Hiratsuka-sensei in Her Youth is not the Same as What I Expected
by stormrs12
Summary: What if one day, Hikigaya Hachiman woke up to see, not his house, but a completely empty structure? What if the Chiba he knew and grew up in seemed to have changed almost completely overnight?
1. Chapter 1

_Had I been born 10 years earlier, and met her 10 years later, I would've fallen in love with her_

"Ah, thank you for today, guys", said Hiratsuka-sensei, thanking us for helping her with the Service Club's paperwork.

I leaned back on the rolling chair and sighed, expressing the tiredness that entered my body as soon as I put the pen down on the table. It was a very strange day, indeed; I did not spend any physical, nor any brain power on following the club's agenda, yet I felt as if all my strengths were almost nonexistent.

"Hikki, you look so tired. The papers you did were probably too brutal", said Yuigahama as she rested her hand on my shoulders.

"Hikigaya-kun, I didn't know your brain cells were that scarce," Yukinoshita added, though I wish she didn't. No retorts were made back her direction due to the fact that my mental energy was almost gone that I couldn't think of any.

"Ugh. I don't think I could bare to see anymore of these documents"

"Well, I'm sorry for making you guys waste your time on this kind of stuff,"

"It's okay, sensei; it was us that decided to help you", Yukinoshita replied.

But no matter how you look at it, Hiratsuka-sensei was probably a lot more tired than I was. Even after we left the teachers lounge, she stayed in order to finish the other papers that, I'm sure, most of it were about the wellbeing of the Service Club.

The externally aggressive but internally warm, and caring nature – I wondered whether or not those personality was retained from her teenage years. It is possible somewhere along the decade, someone came along and influenced her, much like how she was influencing our lives now.

Who knows, maybe the boys were all over her back then, and somehow ten years later, she's still single. Ha.. ha..

That night, I made my way back home without sending off those girls. Well, actually, it was more like they didn't let me do so. They were saying something about how I might collapse into pieces had I spend any of the energy unnecessarily. I did something I usually I don't do, being what they call "loner" and all; that is to take someone's advice without doubt. Both of the girls, before stepping off the train, gazed at me. I didn't have to ask them to know what they mean, the messages were in their eyes: "Go straight to bed, you hear?"

I did just that.

The papers were probably cursed to weaken someone like me - either that, or the amount of Riajuus I had to see walking past the teachers lounge today just drained all my energy. Nevertheless, I was tired, so much so my eye lid started gaining weight suddenly.

Waking up the next day, I noticed something real strange, it seemed so impossible I thought I was in a different reality. As I opened my eyes, what came to sight wasn't the usual bedroom ceiling, but 2x4 wood planks arranged in a way that each of them are a hand-length apart.

I only noticed it just then, but I wasn't lying down on my bed, in fact, I wasn't even in my own room, it seemed. Standing up and looking around, there were no ceilings, no walls, no furniture, nothing of the familiar; I was standing in a structure of some unfinished house.

"Komachi!", I called for my sister several times, desperately trying to find anyone who could give an explanation. Not getting any reply, a sudden feeling of panic rushed into my body.

"Ah, c'mon. What on earth is going on here.. what the heck happened to my house?", I said as slapped my forehead.

'Ugh, not even mom and dad are around. They're going to blame me for this', I thought. I took out my phone, wanting to call Komachi and meet up as fast as possible.

'The heck? No signal'

The signal bar on the top left was empty; not only that, on the top right corner that usually says the name of the carrier says "No Service". In disbelief, I called several numbers, including Komachi, The two girls, and I even tried calling Isshiki, but results were the same: intercept messages. At that point, I started running from the unfinished structure, trying to get to the train station as fast as I could and go to school to confirm that I have not gone crazy. The label of "loner" alone was already enough for me to shoulder; having to also be labeled as a "mad man" would literally be the same as adding a ton to the weight. I'll surely collapse.

For every building I passed, be it a house or a shop, the feeling of unfamiliarity keep piling up. The places I walk by every single day now feels like another prefecture that I have not set my foot in even once. To put it into a clearer image, the coffee shops, the book store, the arcade are all gone, replaced by some Dango and Moji stores.

This place isn't the Chiba I grew up in, but rather, it feels like a downgraded version of Chiba.

If that's the case, what could have happened overnight, and why? What could have caused this much change?

I reached an intersection where, if I crossed to the other side, the train station would only be couple of blocks away. As I was about to set foot on the road, my attention was drawn away by one girl who was standing in the middle of the road, and was shaking frantically.

"Hey you, that's dangerous!", I shouted.

What? I may be a loner, but that doesn't mean that I'm cold hearted.

"I know! It's just that I.. I can't go on!"

"Ugh, what are you trying to do anyway?!"

"I just wanted to go cross over to the train station, that's all!"

"Look, you're not on a pedestrian crossing.. If you're hit, the charges will be against you"

"I get it, I get it! I'll make it through"

She reluctantly, but successfully made her first two steps, but somehow she just stopped. She made her best effort to move her legs, but she pulled them back to where her last step was, in the middle of the road, no less..

A horn sounding was heard from the left side of the road, but she still stood there, not moving.

"Ah, c'mon..", I said then launched myself from the sidewalk, running towards her. Finally reaching her, I grabbed her hand and ran toward the other side of the road with her. I made it just seconds before the car. I panted hardly, feeling even more tired after all that running through the neighborhood.

"Th- thank you", the girl said. I didn't care about scolding her anymore; all I could think about was the fact that she was safe, and I could finally go on to find out what the heck is wrong with everything.

"Don't mentioned it", I said as I stood up and brushed my pants off all the dirt I got earlier. Having lost pretty much most of my stamina, I just started walking, and she followed suit. I didn't really expect to converse with her more than necessary, fearing that she might get awkward and bail out.

"You.. that uniform.. Are you from Sobu High, too?", the girl asked. I didn't realize until then, but the girl was wearing the school's uniform, and she also looks the same age as me.

"Yeah. I'm in 2F"

"Hey, that's my homeroom. Why have I never seen you before?"

Even if you started talking to me, my opinion on talking with strangers won't change, y'know?

"Ah, well, I get that from my classmates a lot.. but I'm in that class, that's for sure"

She made a face that more or less expressed the phrase "I have no idea what you are talking about".

"No, I'm sure I have not seen you before.. I've done an attendance check a lot of times – never seen you stand up"

Now, that was my turn to do the face, because I really did not know what she was talking about. I've never seen anyone like her do the attendance before.

"Maybe you were just transferred to our class. I myself was away from school for quite a while, so I don't really know, hehe"

Things did really happened over night, did it? If I were to write a song out of this whole thing, I guess I could call it _Hachichoubyou to Ichiya Monogatari_ (Eight Trillion Seconds and Overnight Story) [1]

"Since we don't seem to know each other, what's your name? Maybe I know you", she said.

"Hikigaya Hachiman, that's my name"

"I'm Hiratsuka Shizuka, nice to meet you, Hikigaya-kun"

"Huh?!"

That was when I realized: it's not Chiba that has changed.

In fact, nothing has changed at all.

[1] - Reference to kemu's Rokuchounen to Ichiya Monogatari (Six Trillion Years and Overnight Story)


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: For those who doesn't want to read chapters 2 and 3 (which is mostly about 8man's survival), skip to chapter 4, there will be a short summary of those chapters in the Author's Note if you still want to know what happened.**

 **A/N: IMO, This chapter was quite hard to do, since I've never really thought about 8man's survival seriously before people mentioned it in the revs, but did I tried to wrap all of those up in this chapter.**

"I'm sorry but.. what?!"

"Uh, did I say something wrong?"

"No.. I mean, what's your name again?"

"Hiratsuka, Hiratsuka Shizuka, nice to meet you once again, Hikigaya-kun", she said and then giggled.

As wind started blowing south, causing her black-raven hair to flail backward along with the current, I just stood there, speechless. Partly, I was confused, and partly, I was shocked.

'What is this girl going on about? How is it possible that she could be the Hiratsuka-sensei, and this young, no less?', I thought.

Then a sudden realization of something hit me in the head, but it was one that I did not want to think of as being sensible; only possible in the reality of fiction. Those two words just conflict with each, other doesn't it? It was the same as me; what was going through my senses, be it vision, auditory, and even smell, was just conflicting with my thoughts and beliefs.

'Don't try to mock me – only Otakus would have believed anything like this easily.'

Still in the stage of rejection, hundreds of questions made their way to my brain, but I did eventually found one of them that could confirm this whole thing once and for all. Whether or not I could accept it is another story, however.

"Hey, do you know what's today's date is, including the year?", I asked, trying my best not to sound like some science fiction fanatic.

'If this is really the first time we meet, or rather, the first time she meets me, her first impression of me would be a classmate who she didn't know exists. If I make a wrong move here, she might take me for a retard'

"That's quite a weird question, but okay? It's the 10th of November, 2003"

At that point, I should haves been shocked and died from heart attack, but somehow I was already used to the fact that I may have involuntarily made my way through space and time. Her reply only served as a confirmation to what I called a "theory" (but it really was just some random thoughts mashed together). It was an attempt to calm myself down and preserve what was left of my sanity.

"What's wrong? You sounded like a guy who have just leaped through time"

Bingo, lady, your guess was just spot on.

" _iie, sensei, sonna koto wa ariemasen_ (that sort of thing isn't possible, sensei)" [1]

But, really, I couldn't really tell her that her guess was correct; she would think I was crazy!

"Why so formal?.. and sensei?", she said in a genuinely confused manner. [2]

"Uhh, no.. I mean, _ariene_ _e_ _yo_ _, sonna koto wa_ (that sort of thing isn't possible, dude)", I said once again, this time in a much more casual language. [3]

"Well, yeah. Let's get on to the station, or else we might be late", she said as she started walking ahead.

Whether or not I will be late to school didn't matter; to the government, Hikigaya Hachiman was a seven year old kid, so showing up to a high school then claiming to be some brat wasn't going to be the best move. But due to the fact that Hiratsuka was the one person I knew at least slightly, I had to rely on her on getting around. On top of that, the service carrier I subscribed to happened to be founded four years from now, and to make things even worse, my phone was released five years after that.

'Dang, I'm literally holding the future! Well technically, I myself am also the future..'

Good thing that the train system remained pretty much the same over the years, and surprisingly, my prepaid card still worked. Because of that, walking to the train wasn't so challenging. The door closing beeps sounded quite weird, though – it was kind of higher pitched, and repeated at a slightly slower interval. 'Now we know, train updates that costed hundred thousands only contained changes to the beep'

'This Hiratsuka-sen.. wait.. it's just Hiratsuka, isn't she? This Hiratsuka doesn't have a clue that she would become a teacher. She does not have any of the memories we shared in the past, or in her case, the future. Yes, now I do admit, although half-heartedly, the fact that this is ten years prior to the time I was from.'

"Hikigaya-kun, what is that in your hand? A PDA?", she asked. Did I mentioned I was holding the future?

"Ah, well, something like that"

"Mind if I have a look?"

'If I hand it to her, she'll start asking questions non-stop, I'm sure of that. But with the situation I'm in, I really have no choice, do I?'

So I handed her my phone, the device she believed to be a PDA. Surprisingly, though, she didn't ask many questions, probably because she wasn't into technology. Well, she did become a Japanese teacher, after all.

"Hikigaya-kun", she spoke up suddenly as she handed my phone back to me.

"Y- Yes!", I said, but stuttered a bit, thinking that, from looking at my phone, she might have gotten some clues that I was from the future.

"Thanks for saving me."

"Ah, don't mention it."

"No, I really mean it, Hikigaya-kun. Hadn't it been for you, I think I wouldn't be able to go through the intersection", she said as she gave me a warm smile that reminisces that of the older counterpart. I couldn't really reply, and as such, caused the conversation to go on halt for the entire right.

'All things considered, I have to try clinging on to her. Even though the idea sounds extremely creepy, I have no choice. I don't know how or why I ended up here, and I don't know whether or not I could go back either'

We arrived at the station where I usually got off when going to school by train. The only difference from the norm was the fact that from where I live (or will live), I can just bike to school, but the problem was that my trusty bike did not travel through space and time with me. In fact, most of what I owned didn't make it; all I had on me was my bag, which contains the worksheets from the curriculum that will be implemented into Sobu High ten years from now, and also some spare clothes from the club last activity, luckily. I also had my wallet, which contained cash enough for two months survival.

"Hiratsuka-sen.. uh, I mean.. Hiratsuka, I will be doing my admission related papers at the administrative office, so head to class without me"

Emphasis on the word "survive"; I wasn't going to be living a luxurious life like that of a Riajuu.

"Really? How long do think it'll take?"

"Probably the whole day, so see you then"

"Wait, Hikigaya-kun"

"Hmm?"

"Thanks for saving me earlier. I mean it"

"Ah, that again. Like I said, don't mention it. See you later, Hiratsuka"

'For the shelter, I know of a place. Its not ideal (considering it's winter), but I need to make do with what I have'

There's a place behind the cafeteria where two incinerators are stationed; I always go there when there's no other place where I can be alone. If I create a bonfire here during the night, no one would get suspicious as they came in the morning, because they would think someone is using the incinerating something.

As for hygiene, once again, thanks to the last Service Club's activity where I had to sleep over at school, I had all the daily routine set in my bag, including those for bathing. The river just behind the school fence isn't completely frozen, which means I could do all cleaning there.

"I have to put up with the cold, though", I murmured to myself.

"But at least I'm done with sheltering – for now, at least"

* * *

[1], [2], [3] – For people who would like an explanation: _ariemasen_ is a polite version of _arienai_ , or "to not be possible", where in intimate setting, _nai_ sometimes will be contracted to _nee_

 **A/N: I wrote replies to all the reviews from the previous chapter, although, I don't know how to post it since I can't really reply directly to each revs. I also can't post the review somewhere else because I can't use links here. I'll try to get the replies out as fast as possible through other means.**


	3. Chapter 3

'As I thought, this was bad idea', I thought as I lay cold on the frozen ground, shivering at about 4:30 in the morning. I barely got any proper sleep at previous night, as I keep waking up half an hour after each time I went back to sleep. Even with the bonfire, it was still hard to enter deep slumber throughout the night, and as a result I felt like I'd rather be dead. I hadn't had a sensation like that since the last time Komachi woke up in the middle of the night, crying and demanding that I feed her milk. She was able to go back to sleep after that, but I was left awake for almost the whole night due to being abruptly wakened.

Needless to say, I didn't think I could take it anymore. Yes, I admit it, my persistence was low. Despite me always making theories about pacts, and how I can make it through being a lone wolf, it can only be applied in terms of social interactions, not in terms of life and death situations.

Well, at least some of the strength lost from yesterday was recovered. Only some, though.

Still feeling fatigued, I stood up slowly and wiped the snow flakes still stuck on my body. I needed the find the place to stay for the day because I had the feeling I would not be able to go through another night on the ice-cold earth. I was too cocky.

"Hikigaya Hachiman-kun, is it?", a voice was heard in front of me. I looked up and saw a women who, looks to be already well into her thirties, but she was wearing the school's uniform. She did not appear to have any noticeable wrinkles despite her age, probably due to her skin being well cared for. She wore a red lipstick, that glitters like those high class ones shown in commercials. Her hair was black and slightly-grayish; it was held together by a bun behind her head. The one thing that caught my attention the most, though, was her blue eyes; looking at them, I felt no difference from looking at a pile of snow beside her, it was as if their temperature matched perfectly.

They reminded me of someone.

"Yes", I said

"Did you enjoy your first night?", she asked.

'Huh? She knew I was sleeping here?'

"Who are you?", I asked.

"You've met me before, Hikigaya-kun, but not as the person I am right now"

Naturally, being told something as bizarre as that, one is bound to become speechless. Yes, I was speechless. I was only sent back the day before, so the chance of me meeting any person other than Hiratsuka is almost zero.

"Of course, coming to talk to you directly, I do have a purpose"

"Purpose?"

"Yes, but the details can wait. What is important right now is the fact that you're in a real pinch, isn't it? In the eyes of _Junichirou Koizumi_ [1] and his party, you do not exist. On top of that, you have just enough money to sustain yourself for couple of months. No matter how I look at it, Hikigaya-kun, you're as good as dead"

'This lady knows that I do not have the documents? Could it be.. that she knows that I'm not from this time period..?'

"But I'm not here to talk down on you. Here", she said as she took out a thick file that seemed to be full of documents, and held it in front of her, trying to hand it it me. If that were to be ten years after, I wouldn't accept it; it may be a bomb or something that might get me arrested. But at that moment, however, nothing could've been worse than being sent through time with nothing but the bare-minimums, as if trying to say the phrase "I've got nothing to lose". I accepted it.

"Hikigaya-kun, the file contains all your living needs: your birth certificate that I had the date of birth modified to match your age; legal documents required for work purposes; information for the bank account that had the amount of money capable of buying a car deposited; and, of course, the passbook of the said account. As for education, you need not worry; I went to the administration as your guardian, and enrolled you into the school as a second year – you're in 2F. Third semester should've only been started for a couple of weeks, so you don't have that much work to catch up"

'Who is this person? an Interchronological spy?' [2]

Yes, it seems like whoever sent me didn't think my mind was blown enough, so they sent another mind blowing bomb, containing this middle aged lady, to do so.

"Why?.. why did you do all this"

"You have the tendency to change those around you, Hikigaya-kun, that's why I need you alive and well. Money isn't the problem – I have enough of it to buy two entire Japans – three if I include those in my purses"

'She just has to have that many purses, doesn't she? Wait, doesn't that mean she's a Riajuu? Having so much money, you need not work ever after'

"Just remember: the most important part of this whole thing is to keep you alive. So committing suicide will destroy the efforts I've put into you so far, you understand?"

"Y- yes", I said, but reluctantly. I knew I had no choice, but it was just too surreal. It was as if I was in some Sci-Fi movie scene. I did not know what to feel, or whether or not I was actually fortunate or unfortunate.

"What do you want me to do?", I gathered all the courage I had and asked her, but she merely smiled, then replied several seconds after.

"Stay alive, and enjoy your adolescence as you're supposed to" was the only thing she said. She turned around, and started walking away.

"Ah, right, I forgot to mention. I rented a place for you – it's two stations away from here. I already chose the two years package, but I'll still take care of the extra utility fees, if there's any. Whether or not you wanted to stay, however, is up to you", she then continued walking. 'I still didn't get it. Why would a lady, who is stinking rich, invest in some introverts like my self, and also for me to "enjoy" myself? Was it just because she's stinking rich? More importantly, who is she?'

"Miss, who are you?", I shouted a little to compensate for the distance.

"Well, I already told you that you've met me before.. but I guess that's not really a good way to put it. Hmm, so let me rephrase it: You'll meet me after, Hikigaya-kun", she said.

"Wait!", but it was too late. As soon as I blinked, the lady was gone, leaving behind only the footprints on the snow where she last set her foot on.

"Hikigaya-kun?", some one said from behind my back. which brought me back to "reality", if that's what you want to call it.

"Oh, it's Hiratsuka"

"What are you doing here, class is about to start, you know?"

'Ah, right, I'm now officially admitted into the school now, don't I? I still don't know who the lady is – although, I do know that I will meet her "later", even if that doesn't make a whole lot of sense – but I do know that she did spent a lot of money, so not going to class would be a waste, wouldn't it?'

"Yeah. you're right, let's go"

* * *

[1] – Prime Minister of Japan, appointed in 2001 and kept his position until 2005, where Shinzou Abe was elected for his first term.

[2] – A coined word which contains the prefix _inter_ (between, during, among), and the word _chronological_ (with, or relating to time), meaning "in between, or throughout time". So in this case, "A spy who travels through time"

 **A\N: I know that the last two chapters has been short, but their purpose was to only wraps up 8man's survival. From next chapter onward, there will be no shortage of relationship building between the pair.**

 **Also, if I understand the situation correctly, there are people in the rev section who are "alienating" the other revs who brought up the part about realism. I do not know if I'm in the position to say this, but it'll be great if we don't have anymore of it. Don't get me wrong, I really appreciate all feedback I got, but I just see that those kinds of comments might shift the focus of the story somewhere else.**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: For those who skipped chapters 2 and 3, basically what happened was 8man talked to the girl, and was convinced that she was the young Hiratsuka. He then realized that he may have traveled back in time ten years earlier. Without all the life necessities, he decided to use the school as a shelter, and utilized all that he had on him. When he woke up the next morning, a mysterious lady appeared and gave him all that he needed to survive (documents, money, and shelter), told him to live his life as a teenager, and then disappeared.**

"Ah, I'm done with this – I really just can't deal with it any longer", Hiratsuka said, crying and complaining after realizing she couldn't answer the question from the English homework. Not to brag, but it was only the first day that I started going to class, but I've already done all the make up assignments, as well as the assignments given to me for the day. She, however, struggled to even finish one of hers.

'Is this is girl really becoming a teacher?!'

"Hikigaya-kun, you're finished with your work right?", she asked. Damn, at the moment I knew she was going to ask me for help. What sucked was the fact that she probably knew I'll never reject her request.

"Yeah"

"Can you help me with the last question, please?"

Nailed it. Man, why couldn't her older counterpart be this kind of whiny? "Hikigaya, join the Service Club, pretty please?" – uh, no I shouldn't had imagined that scenario; it was so weird I had the image burned to my brain. What the heck was I thinking?

"Ok, let's see: ["I don't have the BLANK amount of money in my bank account, so I'll go deposit.", which of these word is the most appropriate to fill in the blank: Atoned, Adequate, Appreciated, or Atrocious?]"

'Is it just me or this worksheet is trying to mock me? Did the mysterious women I met earlier write this?'

"'Adequate' is the answer"

Of course, being the first day of school, I needed a bit of getting used to, no matter how ironic that may sound. Yes, it's true that I spent a year and a half studying in the same school before being sent back in time, but the difference I felt wasn't from the school building itself, 'it's the people – It's true that I usually don't converse with my classmates, even if it's ten years later, but having different sets of them can make you feel foreign. Their impression of me was no different from ones of those in the future, which surprisingly, is indifferent. From this point, it's just a matter of whether or not I will make them resent me. Other than that, I also feel like something is missing: the usual gathering called Service Club; the usual 'ya hallo!' phrase Yuigahama will yell every time she sees Yukinoshita, who might just either be reading a book, or in the process of making tea. Sometimes, the club activities will be interrupted by Hirats- uh, well, she's here, technically'

"Hikigaya-kun", said Hiratsuka, rotating herself toward my seat, and rested her arms on top of the wooden backrest.

"I created a club"

""And I need members, or else it gets disbanded", correct?"

"Yep, you catch on quick"

"What are you? Some club members hunter who at first act helpless and act close to the prospect, then when they actually join you don't talk to them at all whatsoever?"

'Yes, there are people out there who will act all friendly to you just to let you join their club – basically using you as a human filler, and nothing else. In reality, those people might not even want to get in the ten meters radius of you. Source: Me'

"Why do you have to be so cynical, Hikigaya-kun? I don't just recruit random members, you know?"

'Ah, that makes me feel a little special'

"Fine, I guess. What club is it?"

"Service Club"

'No'

"Huh?! Uh, I mean.. what do you do in this "Service Club"?"

"Quite simple: we help those who want help"

'Uh, no, this has to be some sort of coincidence, isn't it?'

"Hikigaya-kun, you do not hesitate to help those in need, as seen yesterday when you helped me; that trait of you makes you a perfect candidate for a member!"

"I thought it's to punish those who have different views of adolescence?!".

"Huh, what do you mean by that?"

"Uh, no, nothing – forget what I said. I'll join"

"Great, follow me"

It should be no surprise to me by now, but she seemed to have retained her "forceful" personality well into her late twenties. We took some distance walk from the classroom, but the club room is still nowhere in sight. After we went up the stairs, however, things seemed to make more sense to me; we went through the corridor that Yuigahama and I usually go through. At the time, the stairs which I usually took didn't exists then, which means I had to walk the extra distance to get to the other stairs that will lead to the corridor. Up ahead was another corridor that goes horizontally to the one I was walking in, and in the center, there was a room, one that I was sure of its purpose.

"This is the Service Club room", said Hiratsuka. She then slid the door open, and we both entered the room. With the first step, I immediately caught a very familiar scent – it was grassy, yet very appealing to the nostrils. It reminded me of the usual: It was the green tea. It smelled exactly like the one Yukinoshita usually make.

"I see. It's no different from ten years later", I said, and then smiled subconsciously at the thought.

"What are you talking about?"

I shouldn't have said that.

"Uh, no.. I just.."

"You just like to say weird stuff like that. Are you some guy in the future who got sent back in time or something?"

'Again, how the heck can she be this spot on?'

"Like I said, that sort of thing isn't possible", I said, being able to regain composure.

"I see. Well, anyway, you're the first person in school besides me to ever join this club, which means the Service Club is now officially open!", she said, then pointed at my direction.

"Hikigaya-kun, from tomorrow onward, we'll start the club activities."

Wow, that enthusiasm; it was the opposite reaction to that of Yukinoshita when I first joined the Service Club, I knew that much. I did realize something about it, however, that there's a lot more to its history. Ten years later, something probably reminded her of the Service Club, and then she decided to create it again to relive her youth, probably. What I didn't know yet, however, was if Hiratsuka will be the one who starts the whole thing, then how Yukinoshita will be related to it at all.

I separated from Hiratsuka as soon as little bit we decided on our agenda the next day, which was to go around and stick the club poster to promote the club activity.

It was a good time to check on the place rented for me by the lady. It wasn't far from the school, being only two stations away. It was your typical apartment, having a living room, a bedroom, a bathroom, and a kitchen – it wasn't as luxurious as Yukinoshita's place, but I was more than satisfied with what I got. I said it myself, didn't I? "food tastes best when you do not have to work for it".

"Ah, right, I didn't get to sleep well last night", I said as I plopped myself onto the bed, realizing the fact just when exhaustion kicked in suddenly. I then slowly closed my eyes, granting the wish of the pair that desperately wanted their share of rest.

"I wonder what they are up to"

* * *

"Hello? Ah, Komachi-chan, what's up?"

"Hikki? No, Hikki has not been to school for two days straight"

"I couldn't get hold of him either – is he alright?"

"Huh, he wasn't home either?!"

"Yeah, I got it. I'll call Yukinon, then I'll call the police as well, okay?"

"Alright, I'll do what I can. See you, Komachi-chan"

"Hikki.."

* * *

"Good work, Hikigaya-kun", said Hiratsuka, applauding me for already having the poster sticking done in half an hour time. We have them pasted all over the school where people might see them. It wasn't really that hard of a work, but I sure was worn out from it, probably because we had to chase the people who thought these are supposed to be torn off the wall. If they were supposed to be handed out, then I would've handed them out – I don't understand what was so hard about it.

"At least everything's done"

"Yeah, let's go home"

I nodded as a reply, and decided to start walking. When I was about to lift my foot up for the first step, however, something struck me in the leg so hard, I fell to the ground. That something fell down as well, and landed on my back in the prone position. It wasn't as heavy as a sandbag, and it wasn't as light as a pillow, either, but it's weight was enough to keep me pinned on the ground.

"I'm sorry, Nii-san. Are you hurt?", said that something – it sounded like a little girl, so like some obsessed lollicon, I assumed that it was a little girl. Oh, how Isshiki was right about that.

"Don't worry about it, just please, get off me"

'Yes, as I thought, it's a little girl. Who would've thought?'.

She had black bobbed hair that was well conditioned, even running through the cold doesn't seemed to have affected the quality of its spreaded ends. She had eyes whose color was somewhere in the lower center of the Planckian locus. If anything, they felt neutral, neither cold or warm; it was as if she had yet to experience emotions at any end of the temperature spectrum.

"I'm sorry, I was in a hurry", she said.

"Where are you going?", Hiratsuka asked, lowering her knees, making her self the same height as the girl.

"My sister ran away from home", the girl said, looking at the ground and fidgeting her hair. She was a surprisingly shy girl.

"Oh, so you came looking for her"

"You're such a nice sister. I know! Why don't we help you find her?"

"That's great, Nee-san!"

I had never seen Hiratsuka-sensei act like some _Nee-san_ [1] before (she'd be an _Oba-san_ [2] by then. Don't ever tell her I said that), not even close to this. Man, something must've really happened in the next ten years time.

"What does she looks like?"

"Hmm.. her looks? Let's see.. she is a little shorter than me"

"Her hair is longer than mine", the girl said, doing a hand gesture on her waist that indicated the length of her sister's hair.

"Ah, if you want to call her, her name is Yukino"

'Huh?!'

* * *

[1] – What you refer to some lady who is older than you. Although, a really old lady will be happy if you call her that, other people might look at you weirdly.

[2] – What you would refer to some old lady. Don't use this to address any lady in their twenties if you do not wish to be slapped.

 **A/N: There you go, for those who wanted longer chapters.**


	5. Chapter 5

It felt staged and well planned, yet deep down inside I knew it was just a coincidence, one that could not be possible in the three days time period. The meeting of my teacher's younger self still had me lost – only that day, I had been accidentally calling her "sensei" for about ten times, which, while she didn't get angry, she did give me weird looks. To make matters worse, I was then introduced to the younger version of the one person I hoped to never meet the older counterpart if I could, Haruno.

"Yukino.. spelled with the friend and era characters, right?", I asked, thinking that there was a possibility that this is a different Yukino, and therefore a different Haruno. In fact, I hoped it was.

"No. The first character is snow", she said, shattering my hopes and dream completely, "Get it right, Onii-chan!"

As a final hope, I tried once again to twist the reality, this time by asking her name instead.

"So what's your name?", I asked.

"My name is Haruno", she said.

"And the first character?"

"Spring. Onii-chan, you're weird. You keep asking how to write our names"

"Yeah, Hikigaya, you keep asking her weird stuff. I just noticed it now, but are you a lollicon?", Hiratsuka asked suddenly, giving me weird looks with a slight hint of disgust. No, I am not – how does asking about one's name make you a lollicon, anyway? Wouldn't people see you as some language fanatic instead? "No", I said, replying as simply as I can, trying to cut the topic off her mind as fast as possible.

"Well then, let's begin our search", I said for the last time before we set our foot out of the school area and began searching for the kid named Yukino.

* * *

"If we were to include the day that we last seen him, then Hikigaya-kun has already been missing for four days", I said, stating the facts to Yuigahama-san who planned the meet up at my apartment to discuss about Hikigaya-kun's sudden disappearance.

"This is strange. Usually he wouldn't just be gone without saying anything", said Yuigahama-san, "I'm worried that something had happened to him"

It was a statement that I had no choice but to agree. It is true that Hikigaya-kun consider himself a loner and that he does not care about the existence of others. But at times, however, he demonstrated otherwise, like that time he falsely confessed to Ebina-san to keep Tobe-kun from being hurt from rejection, and also that time that he invited Rumi-chan to be the part of the play. Well, at least, it what was I believe was his true intentions. With that in my mind, I couldn't imagine that he would have done something like leaving his "acquaintances" worried about him. So what happened, I thought.

Then I heard a series of knocking on the door. The force put into it sounded like that of a man trying his best to suppress his strengths, and tried to be as gentle as possible on each knock. It took me several seconds to get from the living room to the door, but I did get there fast enough to respond to the person through the sound device attached to the wall.

"Yes? This is Yukinoshita", I said.

"No need for any introductions, I do know who you are", said the person who sounded like some women.

"Ok? What is it that you need?", I asked.

"I don't need anything, young lady. Rather, I'm here to respond to your need"

"What exactly do you mean by 'my need'?"

"It is information that you need, young lady. I know the whereabouts of Hikigaya Hachiman", the person said.

"What?! How?!", I said louder than usual due to already being in partial shock. Usually, I wouldn't have believed it, but something about her voice told me indirectly that she was being legit. I can't explain exactly what kind of feeling it was, but I guess the closest word would be "familiarity". Yes, her voice felt "familiar" to me.

"Yukinon, what's going on?", Yuigahama-san asked from across the living room.

"It's the mailman", I replied loud enough for Yuigahama-san to hear. "Do you know where he is?", I asked the lady, focusing my attention back to her.

"Not only that I know the where, but I also know the when, Yukinoshita", the lady said.

"What do you mean by "when"?"

"I don't have time to answer any of your questions, Yukinoshita. I need to go now"

"Wait", I said, immediately reaching my hand to the knob and opened the door. At that moment, I expected to see a lady whose age and height is around that of Hiratsuka-sensei, but what awaited my sight was a dark navy blue, almost black, vest that was worn over some light teal dress shirt that had it sleeves folded up.

"Uhh.. hello, Yukinoshita-san", the person asked nervously, not knowing what I had gone through the moments ago.

On his vest, there was a coat of arms, and that coat of arms is also attached to the front of his cap.

It was a police officer, the one who Komachi-san explain her brother's mysterious disappearance to.

"Hello, Officer", I said, "what brings you here?"

"It's about Hikigaya Hachiman-kun, Yukinoshita-san", the officer said.

Of course. Why else would a police officer who Komachi-san talked to come all the way to an acquaintance's residence.

"Yes. Any updates on him?", I asked.

"Sadly, I don't have any good news to bring to the table. In fact, the purpose of me being here is to tell you the opposite", the officer said, "The Commissioner ordered the search to come to an end. 'We have wasted to much time on one kid', was what he said"

"But you merely went out to look for him for a day – how is that too much time?"

"I do not know of the details, Yukinoshita-san. And quite frankly, so does the rest of the department", the officer said, "We tried to persuade him to the best of our abilities, but he always said the same thing over and over"

"I'm sorry, Yukinoshita-san"

"It's not a big problem, Officer, from this point on we'll just look for him on our own", was what I said. But in reality, what I thought was why would the Commissioner stops a search on a missing citizen? I didn't make sense to me one bit, and to me, this shows that the department is irresponsible.

Of course, I can't tell this to Yuigahama-san, not just yet.

"Yukinon, who was that? He doesn't look like a mailman to me", said Yuigahama-san, who I didn't know since when had been standing right behind my back.

And of course, I didn't want to let her know at all.

"Yuigahama-san, I have something to tell you.."

* * *

I think I had already spent three hours walking around town, looking for this one girl who I had not seen for days, well, at least the younger version of her. Looking for her was one thing, but looking for her while having a girl riding on your shoulders is a different story.

"Onii-chan, go faster! If you go at this pace, we'll never find Yukino!", Haruno said.

I couldn't say anything, I just couldn't. I just somehow wished the world could have been more merciful on me.

* * *

 **A/N: I'm sorry if this chapter is a bit short. I promise that the next will be longer, and filled with the Yukinoshita's younger moments.**


	6. Chapter 6

I wish the world could've been more merciful to me. At least it could've been merciful enough to not put an eight kilo kid riding on my shoulders.

"Onii-chan, you're moving too slow! Yukino might already be out of town by now!", said Haruno, for the tenth time, to be exact. I couldn't believe it – whatever she will become in the future was what she was at that moment. Her phrasing might have changed during all the years due to education, but that attitude of her's remain the same.

"Yeah, yeah. I know", I said.

I was beginning to feel fatigued because of having her riding on my shoulders all this time, and the ice cold temperature doesn't make it any better. The upper part of my arm felt numb, but the other parts were ok. The lower part of my arm was always moving to keep Haruno balanced. As for my shoulders. Well, I got her thigh to warm it up. So in terms of those, there was at least some heat generation. I knew, however, that complaining to a kid wouldn't make the situation any better.

"Hey", I said, "I know this is really none of my business, but why do you think your sister ran away?"

"Exactly, Onii-chan! This is none of your business!", Haruno said cheerfully, piercing my right through my heart that was filled with concern for his acquaintance's younger counterpart.

"But you're helping me out, so why not let you know? Even if it doesn't do any good", she added. The last part wasn't necessary, was it!?

"You see, Onii-chan, Mama wants Yukino to go to an all-girls school, but she doesn't want that. They got into a really big fight"

From that statement I realized that, even before Yukinoshita enters high school, things have been hot between her and the rest of the family. How ironic – a cold personality is always able to turn situations up to such temperature. Maybe it's like a trigger. If you act cold towards someone enough, he or she will get fed up with you. That's the nature of humans.

"But Mama felt really sad after that, you know? She said she would send Yukino to Sobu Middle School instead"

Then I thought, there is always a chance for reconciliation between two warring parties. If two people were to really care for each other, they would eventually lower their guard down, and realize their wrong doing. Of course, we also have to take into the account the uses that those two have for each other. Her mother probably realized she needed emotional support from her child in order to function. But being cynical would make things worse in that case so I basically just threw that thought away completely.

"I see", I said as a response, as I set foot on the ground, continuing with the search for Yukinoshita.

"Onii-chan", she said, "I think I have an idea to where she could be"

"Really?!", I said, but what I really wanted to say was "you could've told me earlier". Had she done that, I wouldn't had to spend the past hour going around in circles. Literally. I was pretty sure I had already walked past the same coffee shop for the tenth time, which was weird and ironic because I was sent back ten years in time.

"There is a park down the corner. It's her favorite place", Haruno said. Need I say more than I had?.. Well, anyway, me being forced to needlessly waste my physical energy aside, I did consider the place a good location for the search, and set my destination to the park.

It wasn't a very long walk – about two blocks away from where Haruno and I last exchanged verbally. Indeed, it looked like a place where a child and a mom would hang out, except, that in Yukinoshita's case, she was most likely not with her mom. That was my first impression.

To avoid making myself sound like a middle schooler, I should avoid phrasing my explanation as such, but that was the only way I could describe it. It was of average size with the typical play thing you would see: swings with flat, rectangular black seat, held to a metal structure by chains; slides that, if I stretch my leg from the ground to the top, it would still have rooms for me to stretch my leg even more; a small dome, most likely made of plastic, that would come in handy in a raining romantic comedy setting.

I asked myself, if I were Yukinoshita, where would I be?

It was a stupid question – of course, I wouldn't know – but I did guessed that it was the dome. Like the question itself, the attempt to answer it was equally stupid, but as much as it was stupid, it was a starting point that I could use.

That decision of my had nothing to do with my obsession with romantic comedy, I swear. It was based on a carefully done processed called "deductive reasoning". Deduction criteria? Of course, it had to be the fact that Yukinoshita usually hangs out by herself, and the only place here where she could do exactly that was the small dome.

"Onii-chan, are you just going to stand there or start looking for Yukino?", Haruno said.

"Ah, I'm sorry, I was spaced out", and there has to be this kid who keeps ruining my thought process, "I'll look for her now. You wait here", I said, putting Haruno down.

I walked toward the dome according to my reasoning.

Its entrance hole was the opposite of the side where I entered the park, meaning I had to walk around the structure in order to actually check its tenant, but I couldn't get myself to make the first step.

I hesitated.

It was a sudden realization of mine, one that hit me right in the face. What if this encounter could change the way things are in the future? I thought. Would meeting me prematurely change how she would view me as a person?

"It doesn't matter", I murmured.

Not like it mattered. "It's not like her view of me was any good in the first place", I held that fact right in my brain and made my steps slowly, anticipating an event that I may regret forever.

As I put my face across the entrance of the dome, a figure starts to come to sight, and it became clearer and clearer on each move. Then finally, the figure was in front of my very eyes, crawling as if finding a lost item. I didn't even had to think for a second to recognize it; the raven hair; the blue and icy cold eyes; and that face. Those are all the features that I know well. They all belong to Yukinoshita.

Yes, Yukinoshita was in front of me. The one and only Yukinoshita.

I couldn't say a thing, not even to at least attempt to greet her. It was the same feeling I had all along, cautiousness. Well, if I were to really be honest with myself, then anxiety was also the thing that got me stoned in position. Even though you know you had no choice but to do it, you still couldn't.

The figure looked up to me suddenly, as if realizing that somebody else was there. She stopped what she had been doing, which I assumed was searching for something, and gave me a stare for a few seconds.

"Who are you?", Yukinoshita said.

"Ah, me?", I replied not very confidently, "Uh, no.. I'm just some random Nii-san"

"Are you a kidnapper?", she asked, but with a face that didn't express any hint of fear. It was unlike other kid's, where it would be full of tears by now.

She has been cold from a very young age, huh?

"No, no! I was just walking around the park, and I just found you here", I said, "Are you finding something?"

"I'm finding my Kuma-san right now", she said.

"Oh, I see. Then I'll help you find your bear"

"You don't have to, but thanks, Nii-san."

It was such a cold appreciation, so much that it didn't looked like she was at all appreciated. But then, why would a kid have that kind of feeling for a stranger?

I didn't know how the teddy bear had anything to do with the situation at all. My goal was met; I found her, so all I had to do was bring her to Haruno, didn't I? Apparently, I was wrong. Even if it doesn't help with anything, I felt the need to find that bear for her. It was a strange sense of duty that had never entered my consciousness before.

I couldn't have Yukinoshita meet her sister, or else things may have turned out a lot worse. The last people who you would want to meet after running away are those who you ran away from. That's common knowledge.

I went from the dome to the entrance and told Haruno, "I couldn't find your sister here".

"It's also getting late. We all should go home", I said.

I brought Haruno back to the school gate where Hiratsuka was waiting.

"You know your way back home, right?", Hiratsuka said, "Do you need us to go with you?"

"Yeah! Don't worry about me, I am almost ten!", Haruno said, assuring us childishly. The smile the had on the face, it was what I thought was the only thing absent on Yukinoshita's face. I don't know what kind of impact it had on me, but impact me it did. "In the first place, the reason why we couldn't find Yukino wasn't found was because Onii-chan was walking too slow!".

It wasn't my fault!

"Then, bye bye! Onii-chan, Hiratsuka-neechan!", Haruno said her goodbye and walked away, hopefully trying to get back home.

"So, how did it go?", Hiratsuka asked.

"Her sister was in the park", I said.

"Eh? Then.. why isn't she with Haruno-chan?"

I explained to Hiratsuka all of my thoughts I had earlier about an attitude of a person who runs away from home.

Initially, she didn't seem to agree with it, but she eventually went along with it and followed me to the playground.

"Do you trust me on this", I asked Hiratsuka, but all she did was shrug. "I don't know – not like I have any choice – I'm already following you and all", Hiratsuka said, "Do you think she will still be there?"

"We won't know until we see for ourselves", I said as I walked toward the dome. Not surprisingly, she was still there, sitting alone against the dome wall, hugging her crossed legs. She really was able to stay there by herself, I thought.

"Hey, I'm back", I said.

She slowly raised her gaze up to me then said, "It's Nii-san from earlier. How did finding Kuma-san go?"

"I couldn't find him anywhere", I said, "it was as if he was really hiding from me. Maybe I really do have dead fish eyes"

Yukinoshita giggled from that statement I made. I had no idea which part of what I said was any funny, in fact half of it was a lie, but at least I did feel at ease on how she was able to smile.

It looked genuine.

"Do you remember the place where you might have dropped it?", I asked"

"I'm sure I've dropped somewhere in the park. I tried to look for him here, but couldn't find him, though", she said.

"Well then, will you give me another chance to help you look for him?", I lied, I hadn't started.

"Of course!"

With unusual enthusiasm, I clenched my fist, and started looking for the bear.

* * *

We waited for several hours the day before at the police station, trying our best to persuade the officers to continue looking for Hikki. But at last, the officer who went to our apartment told us, "Commissioner wouldn't accept any more meeting", so we had no choice but to go home. It was unbelievable, how the commissioner would stop the search for the citizen of his administrative area. Even if he wasn't a police officer, wouldn't helping your fellow human being something of default?

Nevertheless, we went home disappointed.

The day after, Yukinon didn't say anything about Hikki whatsoever. No, that was incorrect; in this case, I should say something like, "Yukinon didn't say anything whatsoever". Even that, I knew that Hikki was probably the only thing on her mind right now.

That's because he was the only thing on my mind too.

Usually, we don't talk that much when we're on our own, and with Hikki around, things doesn't feel awkward. Now that he's gone, things just felt strange, and because of that, I tried to break the atmosphere.

"Yukinon, why do you like Pan-san?", I asked.

"Hmm? What's with the sudden question, Yuigahama-san?", she said.

"Uh, no.. I guess I'm just curious. Haha"

"Well, it's not a problem", she said, "When I was younger, I got into a fight with my mother and ran away from home I brought my Kuma bear with me. I lost the doll on the way, though, so I began searching"

"Then? What happened next? Did you find your bear in the end?", I expressed my curiosity.

"I couldn't remember much, but a stranger helped me with the search – he didn't find the doll, though. He said something along the lines of 'Sorry, I couldn't find your bear. But well, you can have this, if you're okay with it', and handed me a Pan-san plushie"


	7. Chapter 7

It had been sent back for as long as two weeks only, but somehow, I wasn't homesick. Probably, it was because I had a strong sense of duty after meeting that middle aged lady. The question however, was why I decided out of nowhere that the world ten years earlier was the right place to be in.

"Hikigaya-kun, this is very important, you know?"

Maybe it was because of this girl.

"Like I said, I'm not good at science, Hiratsuka.."

Yes, this girl, Hiratsuka Shizuka, the person who would become a Japanese teacher ten years later.

"Oh, come on! No one was able to help me, not even you", Hiratsuka said, pouting.

Maybe that was why she became a Japanese teacher in the first place, logic of the physical world was too hard for her. I don't blame her, it's not like I'm any better.

Then, there was a knock, followed by the sliding open of the club door. A figure that emerged from it was a girl, about as old as I was. The girl's hair was as long as Yuigahama, the difference was that Yuigahama's was sort of orange, and the girl's was black. Also similar in fashion to Yuigahama was the fact that the girl tied her hair to the left of her head, but she did not curl it up into buns.

"E- excuse me, is this The Service Club?", said the person, sounding nervous.

"Yes, this is it – is there anything that you want us to help with?", Hiratsuka asked the girl.

"Yes", the girl said as she walks to the table where Hiratsuka and I sat, "My name is Hanasaki Saki. I'm from 2A"

"Right, Hanasaki. How can we help you?", I asked.

Before she could answer, there was a lot of fidgeting on her hair. If I am not mistaken, she was also shaking a little bit. 'What are you hiding, spit it out!', I thought – of course, I did not say that out loud.

"My classmates. They're trying to prank me.. I think", she said.

Pranking, huh? It was quite popular back in my childhood years, especially if the practice was to be done on me. But then, I can't really say "back then" when that's literally where I was.

"What are they trying to do?", said Hiratsuka.

"They are trying to get me to go out with a guy, always cheering and squealing as we get even slightly close to each other", she said.

So he was a Riajuu.

"That's horrible. Forcing someone to do things like that is forgivable", Hiratsuka said, even though she had yet to know that in the future, she'll be forcing a certain loner to join the very same club because he wrote a well written essay. Hiratsuka-sensei is unforgivable!

"Well, nevertheless, we'll have to know this 'guy' to figure out how to help you", I said.

"His name is Katakana Kana", Hanasaki said.

'Hah, I am more than a hundred percent sure that he writes his name in Katakana! [0]', I thought, although, I don't feel shame for the fact that I actually almost said that out loud. Then there was another knock, followed by an immediate sliding of the club door.

"Excuse me! is this The Service Club?!", a guy said, panting, as if he was running all the way from somewhere to the clubroom. As soon as he opened his eyes, he was shocked by what was what in his sight. His face.. it somehow reminded me of Tobe.

"Hanasaki?!", the guy exclaimed, "what are you doing here?!'

"I would like to ask the same question", Hanasaki replied, "Katakana-kun"

 _Huh?!_

After some explanation by the guy, we concluded that he was the Riajuu that Hanasaki was talking about earlier, and just like her, he came here to ask for help in regarding to their classmate's prank.

"So, that's the whole story", the guy said.

"I see. So you're here for the same reason as her", Hiratsuka said.

"Yeah"

"I myself am not really experienced in this sort of stuff", Hiratsuka said, "but we'll try our best to help you out". That is really something you should not have said when someone asks you for help because they knew you were the only one who could help.

"If you were to allow us to witness your classmate's actions, maybe we'd get some idea of what to do", I said. It was true; we didn't know who their classmates were, let alone their motive for trying to hook the two up.

"That's alright for us", the guy said, and then Hanasaki nodded as an agreement. "Actually, you're more than welcome to", she added.

We four came to an agreement that both Hiratsuka and I go to their classes and observe, and that's exactly what we did the next day, first time during lunch time where majority of the class' population stays at their homeroom, save for Hanasaki who went out to do take care of her personal business. What surprised me was the fact that when we both went in, the class was relatively quiet. People barely spoke to each other, just something about their homework and the weather. It was like people didn't even know that each of themselves existed.

This is a perfect classroom in my opinion, but one thing about it bothered me – shouldn't a class that gets hyped up for a couple be more rowdy?

"Hey, hey. She's here", somebody tried to whisper to someone, but it was still loud enough for me to hear. That was as a response to the opening of the classroom door.

As soon as Hanasaki entered the classroom, everyone else stopped what they were doing and paid all their attention to her. According to both of them, their seats would be right next to each other. Of course, knowing this, I thought the classmates wouldn't let this chance pass by. Everybody stood up and moved closer toward the two with the girls surrounding Hanasaki and the boys surrounding Katakana.

"Hey, when are you guys going to confess to each other?!", a girl spoke.

"How jealous I am of you both!", another guy said.

Oh, how quick I was to just give an analysis. As soon as those two get even remotely close to each other, the classroom went from just being regular citizens to men at arms. Feared of being seen suspicious, Hiratsuka and I slowly backed off from the class, and then left, heading for our own class.

"I didn't expect it be that bad", Hiratsuka said, at least I remember her saying it. I was in deep thought, the usual of my cynical self, you could say. 'Is there a point in forcing two people together?', I thought. There was a very simple answer to that, one that I shouldn't have missed had I not dig too deep. But I didn't know that, and spent the whole afternoon, even during classes, trying to piece together all the possibilities.

Alas, I couldn't figure it out.

"You've been really quiet, Hikigaya-kun", said Hiratsuka as we ride on the train home.

"Huh, then that's normal, isn't it?", I replied, reminding Hiratsuka that, yes, I don't talk much.

"No, I mean, you're unusually quiet today", she said, "are you still thinking about those two?"

She was right on the spot.

"Yeah", was the only thing I said in response, though.

She gave me a smile, "that's so you, Hikigaya-kun". I still don't know what was so special about that statement, but it was able to heat my cheeks up. Oh, I don't want to imagine how idiotic my blushed face looks.

A moment later I heard footsteps coming from beyond Hiratsuka, it was probably some other passengers, except that it wasn't. The one who walked in from the other side of the train was a policeman, wearing a usual blue vest and cap. I thought he looked familiar, and that I felt like I've seen him somewhere before.

I almost thought it was just me, and was about to return to ponder about what I should do about the 2A guys.

Not until he pulled out a small kitchen knife from his trousers, to which, I quickly returned all my attention back to him. A normal person wouldn't bring out a knife in the middle of a train ride, no? He then changed to a battle-like stance and held the pointed down knife with both hands.

'Ok, that's not normal', I thought.

What happened next, I could barely remember, but the police officer charged toward Hiratsuka, pulling that knife up with both hands.

"Hiratsuka, move away!", I yelled, moving in with both hands aiming to stop the officer's arm from striking Hiratsuka.

* * *

Yukinon didn't say much once again, but at this point, she couldn't bare being in the clubroom without Hikki around;

She stopped coming to school altogether.

We always thought that the club was about all three of us being there, but no matter how well we may phrase it, it's obvious the focus is on Hikki. The reason why he was there in the first place wasn't because he wanted to, wasn't it?

But that was just my personal opinion. Hikki's life maybe on the line when we both just sit around, expecting that maybe one day, he may just come back to us.

Which was why I decided to give it one more try. One day, I went to the police station again to try to convince the officer to convince his boss once again. I stepped inside of the building, heading straight to the administration.

"Excuse me. I would like to see the police officer who was in charge of Hikki.. uh.. I mean Hikigaya Hachiman's disappearance", I said, which made the desk person looked troubled.

"That would be officer Hansaki Kazunari – he's not in today, unfortunately", the desk person said.

"What?! he's not in?", I said.

"Don't worry", the desk person said, "he'll probably be back by tomorrow. He's always doing some weird battle moves during this time of the day; you won't miss him"

* * *

I was able to stop the officer's attempt on doing harm to Hiratsuka, but at a cost. Both of my hands caught on the edge of the knife, and started bleeding.

"Hikigaya-kun!", I heard Hiratsuka yelled.

* * *

 **[0] – Katakana is one of the writing systems used in Japanese (together with Hiragana and Kanji), usually used for foreign/loan word.**

 **A/N: As a reply to ArmatusCumPinnae: Yes, there will eventually be whole chapters on the present time line, but before that there are couple of things I have to get out of the way :) . As for the others, thank you for all of the reviews/suggestions so far! Happy new year, and happy anticipating!** **  
**


	8. Chapter 8

It was a moment like that of an action movie, one that seemed like it happened out of nowhere, but nonetheless, was real. I was on my last train home together with Hikigaya, real exhausted from a club mission that involves the 2A people.

Hikigaya-kun seemed to be more exhausted than I was, though. All the way from school, he had been in deep thought.

"You've been really quiet, Hikigaya-kun", I said, trying my best to loosen him up.

"Huh, then that's normal, isn't it?", he said. Yeah, who would've thought. Even though it was just a mere two months, I knew what kind of person he is, it was just that he was unusually locked inside of himself.

"No, I mean, you're unusually quiet today", I said, "are you still thinking about those two?"

"Yeah", was the only thing he said in response, though.

I gave him a smile, and then said "that's so you, Hikigaya-kun". I didn't know what was so special about what I said, but it was special enough it made him blush and avert his eyes. It was a sight I had not seen before, an expression I had never seen him make. His flushed face, and his embarrassed self looked really cute, I thought. I just want to spend the rest of the little time left to indulge myself in this rare scenery.

But then, he suddenly faced up to me weirdly – maybe I stared too much. In any case I kept smiling to keep things from going awkward. His expression then changed, as if he was alerted by something. I hope he wouldn't get the wrong idea.

He moved himself toward me, holding both his hands up as if to catch something. Yup, he definitely thought I that thought of him weird, 'I'm sorry, I didn't mean to!', I thought.

"Hiratsuka, move away!", he said loudly, thrusting his arms passed my head. I didn't know what he did, but he groaned painfully and his arms started trembling. Knowing that it definitely wasn't a joke, I moved forward, away from Hikigaya-kun and then turned around.

"Hikigaya-kun!", I yelled, shocked from what I saw. His hands caught on the blade of a knife and bled. The person at the other end of the knife was a police officer, holding the knife in a battle stance.

With the blade still on his hands, Hikigaya-kun pushes forward, trying to knock the officer back, and he succeeded. The officer landed on his foot, and was able to gain his balance, but he was at least pushed backed.

I was worried more about Hikigaya-kun; both his hands took a blow from a knife. I at least wanted to do something, at least apply first aid to his hands.

"Hiki- "

"No, stay back", he said, stopping me from advancing any further.

Much like the officer did earlier, Hikigaya-kun changed to some weird battle stance as well.

"Stay off my teacher!", he said, dashing forward with his bloodied hands. He held his hands into fists, trying to push forward a jab. But the officer would dodge it completely and gave a knife blow to his arm. It continued for many more times, where Hikigaya-kun failed with the jab, then would get a new knife wound somewhere on his body. Each time I could not hold my gasp in, and tears would flow from my eyes.

Then Hikigaya-kun tried punching the officer once more, but this time Hikigaya-kun was jabbed in the face with the officer's bare hand, knocking him back. He was knocked back so hard, his head made an impact with the list of station display, and he fell down to the floor, unconscious.

"Hikigaya-kun!", I yelled out one last time.

I gathered all my senses together and ran in, kneeling down behind Hikigaya-kun and then embraced him by the head.

I looked up at the officer, still teary on the face.

"Please, don't hurt him anymore!" I said, "your target is me, right? So here you have it, I'm right here! Please, just leave him alone!"

The officer, probably completely ignoring my pleadings, changed his position to a battle stance once again. 'He's not intending well', I thought. I am not a Christian, but I closed my eyes and hoped to god that there would be some supernatural being around to protect me and Hikigaya-kun. As if my non-religious prayer was answered, somehow, both me and him are still alive.

Intrigued, I opened my eyes to see the officer being punched in the face by some lady.

"I'm sorry if this guy scared you, but everything will be fine now", said the lady as she turned her attention back to the officer, "as for you, I'm not letting you hurt someone unrelated"

The train came to a stop a brief moment later – the situation was probably too tense that I didn't notice the next station announcement.

The door opened behind the officer, to which, he took that chance to spring himself off the train and ran off.

"It's fine," the lady said, "he's not coming back for a while", as the door closed and the train started moving again.

"Who.. who are you?" I asked the lady. When my vision finally focused, I got a clear view of what she looked like. She was a middle aged lady with blue eyes – somehow, looking at them made me feel real cold.

"I'll take him back to his place" the lady said, lifting Hikigaya-kun up to her back.

I followed the lady passed the station I'd usually go off to get home, maybe because of curiosity. It was only two stations away where she got off, to which, I also got off, following her pace by pace.

Much like when I walked with Hikigaya-kun, she did not say anything, but what was not like when I was with Hikigaya-kun, was that it felt awkward walking beside her. It wasn't a long walk, probably two blocks far, but the time needed to achieve that distance seemed like eternity. The only conversation we had was when we reached a convenient store half way through the journey, where she asked me to go in to buy some bandages, and I replied "ok".

Eventually, we reached a relatively tall building, a place seems fit only for a upper class looking to spend a night or two, but since the lady led me here, I assumed that was where Hikigaya-kun's place of residence (a portion of it, anyway).

We took the elevator and walked up to one penthouse. The place wasn't as amazing as the exterior advertised it to be, but it was more than any middle class person could ask for. The lady placed Hikigaya-kun on a sofa and applied medication, as well as bandaged his wounds.

"I patched him up, I'll leave the rest to you", the lady said as she stepped outside the apartment.

"Please wait," I said to the lady, "I apologize if this comes across as rude, but.. who are you?"

She gave me a faint smile and said "even Hikigaya-kun doesn't know that. As for what he knows, I'll leave it to him to decide whether or not you should know".

I still had a lot to be answered, for one, who was she? why did she come in all of the sudden? and why did Hikigaya-kun called me a "teacher"? But there she went, off the apartment, and then to the elevator. Maybe one day, I could find the answers.

One day.

* * *

As far as I was aware, I knew that I was awake and that both my eyelids were closed. I wanted to get up, to see what was around me, but it felt so comfortable; my head was well leveled, and was gently caressed. Well, some parts of the body felt painful, though.

"Yeah, Mom, I'll have to spend a night here", said some girl, "yeah, it's a very important work – I'll get it done by tonight, I promise."

Normally, I wouldn't have cared if a girl would be having a phone call with her mom, but the origin of the voice felt so close.

"Yeah, take care, Mom.", the girl said, followed by a beep indicating the cutting of the call.

I opened my eyes to see Hiratsuka, holding a phone with one hand, and caressing my head with another. She looked to me and startled a bit.

"Ah, Hikigaya-kun. You're awake", Hiratsuka said as she keeps her phone.

I remembered at that moment, I was on a train, thinking of a strategy to stop the shenanigans within 2A. That was until a policeman showed up and wrecked me. 'Wait, so does that mean..', I questioned myself.

"Hiratsuka," I said, "what happened to the officer?"

"Don't worry about him – a lady came out of nowhere and beated him up", she said.

"A lady?"

"Yeah. A middle aged lady. She actually carried you all the way here – surely, must be somebody you know"

'It must be that lady I met at the back of the school', I thought.

"Nope, I don't think I _know_ her", I said.

"That's what she told me too: 'he doesn't know me', or something along those lines", she said.

Definitely that lady. I didn't, however, knew exactly who that lady was, or what business did she have with me. All I knew, was that she knew I wasn't born in 1980s' Chiba and that she did a lot to ensure my survival, for the reason that even I don't understand. But Hiratsuka wouldn't believe all this, wouldn't she? I mean, even I didn't believe it completely.

"Anyway," I said, trying to change the subject, "how long have I been out?"

"About three hours", she said.

"Three hours?!"

"Yeah"

"Ah, man, and you stayed here all this time"

"It didn't bother me at all," she said, "after all, this is the second time you've saved my life"

"Don't sweat it. I didn't do much", I stated the truth. Had it be other men, they would have beaten the crap out of that officer, carried her like a princess off the train, and kissed her or something.

"You took the blade for me, Hikigaya-kun", she said as she started tearing up, "no other man would've done that for me"

Throughout her teaching career, I had not once seen Hiratsuka-sensei made a sad face, let alone cry. Knowing that, it should not come across as normal to you to see her younger self cry; you would think, because she had a strong foundation in her youths, she would be able to handle a class of thirty. Her tears dropped on my cheek as the thought went through my mind.

"Like I said, you shouldn't worry too much,", I said, "I mean, if you really would like to do something in return, then.. may I ask you of one favor?"

"Yeah?"

"Can I stay on your lap, just like this, for a while?", I said

With her face still teared up, she smiled and said, "Yeah. For as long as you want".

As soon as she finished her statement, she started caressing my hair. My usual self would have told her to stop and go away, but for whatever reason I remained passive in that case.


	9. Chapter 9

"Hikki, wake up, Hikki" someone said.

"Hikki"

Each time my name was uttered, it would be followed by a feeling of my shoulder being shook by some external force.

"Hikki, it's time"

The process of someone calling my name and flinging my shoulder continued for a moment, until I decided to open my eyes to see who was cruel enough to disturb me in my sleep.

"Ah, it's Yuigahama" I said as the picture inside my vision becomes clear. I was sitting on the table in the clubroom, not even remembering when I dozed off.

"Hikki, it's time to go home", Yuigahama said. Initially, I did not stand up as I was trying to recollect the dream I had.

"What's wrong?" she said.

I didn't know whether or not I should tell her about it, though. The dream was a showcase of one scary possibility, and to what degree it can affect my life.

"Sorry, I had quite a dream" I said.

"A dream?"

'Heh, who am I kidding', I thought. That was Yuigahama, and she isn't a kind of person to look down on me for having a dream.

"Yeah, a lot happened, but the general idea is that I woke up in Chiba from ten years earlier", I said.

"Really? Did you meet everyone's younger version?", she said enthusiastically, as if she was genuinely interested at the same time that I was feeling anxious.

"Mostly", I said.

Of course, I couldn't have said that out of the duo, only Yukinoshita appeared in what is scientifically believed to be our brain's response to our desires in the form of incoherent and easily forgettable visions.

"By mostly, do you mean Yukinon and her sister?", she said.

"Ahh, yeah, that's right!", I said, trying my best to feign ignorance. It wasn't as if she knew of what I saw, but there simply was no point in lying to her.

"And I guess you met Hiratsuka-sensei, too, haven't you?", she added. As soon as I heard the statement, I freaked out a little. A lot of times people describe the feeling of having someone else knowing too much about you as "creepy", and I agree – at that point in time, at least. Heck, just thinking that someone may as well create a game where a flower knows you killed a character before reloading a save file freaks me out.

However, I recollected myself a moment later, that when it comes to an event that affects the entirety of a timeline, one may as well have every single possible outcome thought out. What happened then was the same, I thought, 'Yuigahama may be as well just thinking about every single possibilities – ones that she could think of, anyway'.

"Yeah, her too", I said. Her pin pointing such details, although broad, had left the atmosphere in the room very awkward. I seriously did not want to go into details regarding what I saw – it just felt vaguely unsafe, somehow. After what I said, Yuigahama did not say anything else, just staring and giving faint smiles.

It did not help with the awkward atmosphere at all, whatsoever.

Yuigahama started leaning on closer to me, her hands sliding on the table each time each and every inch she moved. Eventually, it came to the point where her forehead was connected with mine. To give you the idea of how close she was, I was actually able to feel her breath.

The hand that slid with the table were then placed on my cheek instead. Yuigahama stayed in that same position for a short moment and, without any warning, struck her lips against mine.

I groaned a little on impulse, and my eyes were gradually widened, contrast to Yuigahama's pair being closed shut. Not waiting for me to catch my breath, she started moving face around, all the while asserting her tongue beyond my lips.

A couple of seconds later, she parted her face from mine, leaving a thin strain between our lips.

"Hikki, you have no idea how much I want to really do that with you", she said. What she did to left me speechless, so much so the anxiety I had earlier was completely gone.

"Hehe, I don't really know why I'm telling you this", she said as she shed a tear, "it's not like you're real, anyway".

The feeling of uneasiness quickly rushed back into every part of my body. It was as if the word "real" and its use in that sentence brought me to some painful realization.

"Yuigahama, what in the world do you mean by that?!", I said.

"I never got a chance whenever Yukinon is around.. and you know, the day after you disappeared, Yukinon was supposed to take a day off ", she said, having her sentences cut midway from sobbing, "it was my chance to make a move!"

"But then, you didn't come", she said, "so I waited, and waited, but you still did not come, not even after Yukinon came back. I don't even remember how long has it been anymore, three months? Heh, it's been so long, I didn't even bother counting anymore.."

"You're kidding, right?", I said.

"I wish I was", she said, "ah, our time is almost up".

Yuigahama stood up and said, "Goodbye, Hikki..", and started backing off from me.

"Wait!" I said as I stood up, reaching my arms out to try to catch her. I wasn't satisfied with what I knew, and probably, Yuigahama could at least fill me up on what the heck was going on.

But as my hand was an inch away from her, I realized that what I was trying to reach wasn't her, but the ceiling of my apartment.

I put my arms down and sat up, sweating and panting heavily.

"So, it was all a dream", I said as I wiped the sweat off my face. Somehow, that statement I said was some good quality chopped onion to the eyes. I cried, feeling hopeless for the fact that I may as well be stuck for the rest of my life. Yukinoshita, Yuigahama, Komachi, and everyone else, I may not get to meet them ever again, not in the same manner. It's probably karma, I thought, my cynical self didn't appreciate their presence enough, so some god decided to punish me. The whole thing may as well be a sick joke.

'I kind of deserve this', I thought.

The train ride to school was the longest I had ever taken, with each second passed spent pondering and grieving about that dream. I couldn't get it off my mind no matter how hard I tried. I was so occupied, I did not care to converse with anyone around me, not even with Hiratsuka. During lunch time, I did not have a single bit of appetite, in fact, I felt like swallowing anything would've led me to throw up violently. I thought hurrying to my usual place will help me get hungry, but it did not help. Whatever sense I detected was somehow vomit inducing, even looking at the parked bicycles was enough to stir up my stomach.

"Hikigaya-kun, what are you doing alone in a place like this?" said by someone with a faint voice from behind me.

"Ah, it's you Hanasaki", I said in reply, "nothing really"

"It certainly looks like nothing to me", she said.

I wasn't in the mood for chatting, and usually wouldn't I strike up a conversation anyway, so I decided not to go on. But before I started ignoring her, though, a thought came to mind.

"Hanasaki, I'm sorry for asking out of the blue, but.." I paused for a second, "have you ever thought you got over something, but you actually haven't?"

Other than Hiratsuka, Hanasaki was one of the only people I was even remotely acquainted with. I know it would weird her out, but had I not ask her right then and there, then I wouldn't have anymore chance since, you know, she wouldn't pass the same place every lunch time.

"It's alright.. What you asked me.. it was a completely valid question, Hikigaya-kun", she said, "but I guess it's a bit weird being asked out of nowhere, hehe". Knew it, she was kind of weirded out.

"You see, Hikigaya-kun, I had a friend from middle school who moved to study abroad – she was my best friend", Hanasaki said, "I felt as if I didn't miss her at all, even after a year had passed. Well, at least that was what I thought anyway"

"But you see, when I was going through the old stuff in my room, I found a photo album. Curiosity drove me to open it up and see its content – all of it were pictures of me and her. Without reason, I started crying non stop", she said, "When someone you care about goes away, you may not realize it at first, but eventually you do, about how much you missed them and how much you wanted to spend time with them again"

'So even someone as shy as her is capable of such emotions, huh', I thought.

"I see. I'm sorry I asked something weird and forcing you to be so intimate, especially with someone such as me" I said.

"No, no, no! Not at all.. I mean, it's true we may not have talked much, but what you asked me made me think, Hikigaya-kun, that you and I may have a lot in common", she said, "well, I have some work to do, so I have to get going now, bye"

Hanasaki took the first two steps back, but stopped as she was about to make her third."Thanks for listening to me, Hikigaya-kun", she said one last time before setting off on her business for real.

What a good girl – not only did she do me a favor, but she also thanked me for it. Seriously, when was the last time somebody thanked you for asking them to do your chores?

"'You and I have a lot in common', huh?", I murmured, repeating one of the last things she said.

"We have one very different thing, though", I said to myself, "it's the fact that you're strong, but I'm not". She was able to live her life normally for a whole year. But then, we also have to understand that her friend just went abroad, and could be back any day – it's not like she didn't meet her friend because she went back in time or anything.

The feeling of hopelessness overwhelmed me once again, much like earlier in the morning. I didn't want to think about what I had gone through anymore, it simply was too much. I used to think I knew it all, about facades people put up when being around other people, about what truly is human nature. I was wrong. I wasn't really being clever when I theorized those things, that's something people called "being cynical".

"I guess it's time", I said as I stood up. Tears started flowing from my eyes, but I did not care. All I thought was that I have to go _there_ , albeit without really knowing why.

* * *

Today's lunch felt a little lonely, even though I was in a room full of people. Hikigaya didn't come to 2A to check on Katakana and Hanasaki as he had been doing. I'm okay with him taking a break, but him not telling me about it made me feel anxious. Since Hanasaki wasn't there either, I somehow got the feeling that they were hanging out somewhere, and that somehow made me feel even more anxious.

Even when I was on club duty, I still couldn't bare not knowing where those two are and to what they could be doing. I stepped out of the 2A class to the corridor, where I stumbled across Hanasaki who was startled from me exiting the room suddenly.

"Hi- Hiratsuka-san, what's with the hurry?", she said.

"Good timing, Hanasaki-san. Do you know where Hikigaya-kun is?", I said.

"Ah, I last saw him at the stairs. Apparently he's heading for the 4th floor", she said.

"Why would he be heading there of all places?"

"I don't really know, but I guess it doesn't hurt to ask him about his day once you get to him, it seems like he's going through a lot – if I didn't have any work to do, I would've stayed and talk to him more."

"Got it. Thanks a lot, Hanasaki-san", I said as I set foot deeper into the corridors, heading toward the stairs that leads to the upper floors.

Reaching the fourth floor, I checked through every single class there were, sliding the door opened and scanned my eyes through all the seats. I couldn't find him in any of the classes, which meant that there could only one place he could be on that very floor.

"The bridge", I said out loud.

At that moment, however, the bell rang. Knowing that I don't have much time until I will be marked "late", I ran through the corridor as fast as I can. I reached the exit to the bridge that connects two buildings together.

There I saw Hikigaya-kun standing in the middle of the bridge, looking off into the horizon with both his hands on the metal bars.

Based on what Hanasaki told me earlier, he was probably pondering about his life. I wanted to follow her advice on trying to brighten up his day, by asking him how he was doing, and maybe act tough to try to get him out of possible dismay.

But as I was about to move my foot on the platform, he moved his, not to the side where he could start walking, but on to the concrete base where the metal bars were attached to. It was when he lifted his other foot that I realized what he was trying to do.

"Hikigaya-kun!", I cried loudly, and dashed out toward him as fast I could.

I didn't know, not at all, even when I was always with him.

"Hikigaya-kun!"

He didn't stop, It was as if he did not hear me.

"Hikigaya-kun, stop it! Please!"

I didn't know how fast I ran, but it wasn't fast enough it seemed. I closed my eyes and leapt whatever the distance that was left between me and him, reaching both my arms out for him. 'Please, reach him this time, so that I could save him, so that I could make up all the times he saved me', I thought.

When head made an impact with what felt like an abdomen, I immediately held on to it very tightly. The force from the impact pushed the body down to the ground along with me. When I finally got a hold of myself, I was on top of Hikigaya-kun, face to face. It would've been embarrassing had it not been for the circumstances, but at least I was able to get hold of him.

"You idiot! Don't do that!", I cried.

"Why? What's the point in you stopping me?", he said.

"Then let me also ask you a question, what's the point in you jumping down there?!", I said.

"I've lost everything, Hiratsuka, every single thing"

"Still, if you still can get yourself an apartment of that quality, you can surely work towards replacing all that you've lost, you know?"

"That's not the point", Hikigaya-kun said, "In fact, there's no point at all. Everybody I knew.. I won't be able to meet them again in this case. I know that I have always been alone, but it's only now that I'm really alone."

"But I'm right here!", I cried out loud to the point where I screeched a little. Tears streamed down my cheeks; it felt like he doesn't see me, even when I was right on top of him, even if for the past couple of months I did nothing but stayed with him. It was very childish of him to say that he was "alone".

"I'm always here for you", I said.

His eyes and mouth were expanded wide, as if what I said had greatly changed his mind. He kept the same expression for a short while until both of us decided to sit up and face each other.

He said, "Hiratsuka.. I..", but before he could say anything else, I lowered myself to rest my head around his chest. I hushed, knowing that since we both came to an understand, there was nothing left to be said.

"Hikigaya-kun", I called out to him one last time, "hug me"

"What?!", he exclaimed.

"Just do it", I said firmly.

"Alright, alright.. just calm down", he said, wrapping one arm around my waist, and resting another on my head.

It wasn't until we heard another bell, that we both hurried back to class.

 **A/N:** (Warning: canonical spoilers) The "bridge" is the same place as the fenced platform that Yukinoshita ran up to in Episode 8 of Season 2. I am not sure to what it actually was, but judging from the scenery, it was probably a bridge.


	10. Chapter 10

It wasn't as if I wanted to go that badly, I was just acting on an impulse, one that could've led to me to put an end on all the madness. All the ones I know, regardless of how close they're to me, It could be that I may have had lost the chance to meet them all again since the beginning.

"It doesn't really matter now. Hiratsuka is here for me, isn't she?" I muttered to myself as I walked passed through many stalls of the Cultural Festival, experiencing all the possible sensations one could get from that kind of event.

"Hmm? Did you say something, Hikigaya-kun?" said Hanasaki, who was walking alongside me this whole time, to which I had already forgot about the fact as I was so immersed in making out all those sensations. The aroma of frying takoyaki and dashi stock soups, the sound of people cheering for their friends in a carnival game, and the crowdedness in front of some stalls – it had been almost a year since I experienced anything like that. I had been having the same thoughts for a while, and having all the commotion going on around me didn't really distract me from it, but rather reinforced those thoughts as I retreated from reality while still maintaining my senses.

"It's nothing" I said, peaking left and right to find anything that may have been interesting from the stalls.

Hanasaki ran ahead slightly, then looked back and a said while walking backwards with both hands behind her back "Or could it be, that you couldn't get yourself to stop thinking about Hiratsuka-san?"

Just the mere mention of the name caused my eyes to stop peeking to the sides to be directed toward her. When I realized the sudden shift of attention, Hanasaki grinning playfully was the first thing that came to vision. It was probably too late to try to feign ignorance, but I gave it a go anyway.

"Nope. Haven't had a single thought about her" I lied. Hanasaki let out a slight giggle.

"Not even after the fact that she was there for you in your most critical situation?"

"I don't know what you're talking about, Hanasaki"

"You don't know about the fact that you embraced her for a pretty long while?"

My eyelids were raised far from their bases, and my mouth were left wide open after hearing the statement that in no way was subtle about the message that was being sent across.

"You.. saw?!" I said.

"Maybe" she said, giggling harder.

As I stopped walking to recollect my thoughts, I let out a big sigh and said to her "Yeah, you're right, I guess I really couldn't get that stuff off my mind", to which after her pace also came to a complete stop.

"Let me try to guess what exactly you're thinking, Hikigaya-kun" Hanasaki said, "you're trying your best to reason against the possibility – 'Hugging each other is what friends do all the time – she probably doesn't have anything like that for me', or something along those lines"

As much as I wanted to argue with her, she was right about my thoughts. I knew that, probably, since she asked me to do something like this, Hiratsuka probably did have a thing for me. Plus, earlier in the afternoon during club, I couldn't get myself to talk to her properly – it felt as if she was gazing at me whenever she could. The atmosphere around her was so awkward, I couldn't even walk around with her, hence why I was with Hanasaki in the first place.

Thing is, though, asking to be embraced doesn't always have to have that meaning. As for the club thing, she could've just looked at my general direction, not at me. These sort of thoughts, It's all safety precautions to prevent myself from repeating the same mistake from Middle School with Orimoto.

"But it's a legit concern, you know? If I do anything rash, I won't be able to fix anything" I said.

"Does that mean you're opening up a chance for Katakana-kun? Before her current Oden stall shift, all she talked about was him" Hanasaki said.

"That's her choice" I murmured, but loud enough to be heard by her.

"I see, not everyone is so confident of themselves" she said, "but I guess it's not entirely false if I'd also say 'hardheadedness stays'"

The statement did put me through a certain degree of surprise – not often have Hanasaki been so direct when it comes to flaws of other people. Nevertheless, I didn't bother retorting anymore, knowing that if I say anything wrong, Hanasaki would have been able to surprise me even more. The silence that I intentionally created was broken by Hanasaki when she threw a request-like statement my way. "Hikigaya-kun, it's almost the end of Hiratsuka-san's shift, how about we go to your class's stall to get her?"

I was reluctant to reply at first as I knew what she was trying to allude. Komachi have tried the same thing before, where she tried to set me up on going to a festival with Yuigahama – I was lucky that the phone call allowed me to interrupt her unabruptly.

It's very unlikely that I would've gotten anymore chance like that, though.

"Alright. Then let's go" I said.

As much as I didn't want to play by her game, denying it would've meant that I admitted to have thought of Hiratsuka non-stop, and that I was too shy of the fact to face her.

* * *

The dream I had several days ago – it was one of the best I've ever had. To be honest, though, I wished that it could've lasted longer; I was not done with him, not even close, not after having to wait three months straight in order to have experienced something like that. Sure, every now and then I have dreams about him going back in time and meet some other people, but those are nowhere close to what that dream was. It's nothing like a Lucid dream that Yukinon told me about, not only was I in control, but I felt like everything was so real and tangible.

"Oh, Yuigahama, so you're here too" said someone from my left.

"Ah, good afternoon, Hiratsuka-sensei" I said as I turned myself toward her direction. By that time, she had already grabbed a chair and sat across me.

For whatever reason, I decided to come visit Service Club after a very long while. The club room looked pretty much the same, save for some of the furnitures that are covered in dusts due to it not being used for so long. Not surprisingly, though, Yukinon didn't come.

"What brought you here, sensei?"

"Well, ever since you girls stopped coming, I sort of end up here every afternoon.. you know.. after that" she said, facing the other direction.

"Ahh.. I see"

Her last statement left the atmosphere in the room very awkward with both of us remained silent, looking left and right, trying to cope with it. There were times when I feel kind of weird after trying to say something to Hikki, but he didn't get it. This was a lot worse. It was as if Hiratsuka-sensei and I didn't know each other at all. But then, suddenly..

"Ah, man, I can't believe it!" Hiratsuka-sensei said loudly, "I can't believe that Hanasaki was already engaged to her boyfriend!"

It was sudden and out of nowhere, but somehow it didn't feel out of place compared to what she said earlier. At least, it destroyed that awkward feeling I had, I thought.

"Hanasaki-sensei?! Really?!" I quickly replied, trying to continue with what she started.

"Yes, her. I was sent an invitation letter just this morning" she said. She let out a big sigh then said "I should just get myself a boyfriend already"

"But Sensei, didn't you had one?"

"Hmm? Who might you be talking about?"

"I'm obviously talking about that guy we met at Cultural Festival!"

"Wh- what are you talking about?!"

Maybe it was just my imagination, but I could've sworn her cheeks turned bright red the moment I finished the sentence. The reason why I didn't expect it was probably that it doesn't really fit her character; she always tries to portray herself as this middle aged lady who is really strict and cruel when it comes to academics. I've not seen this side of her for years.

"Sensei.. don't tell me you forgot about it" I pouted.

"No, no! That's not what I mean" she quickly corrected herself, "I still remember it – I was the one who invited you after finishing with your homework. I meant that he wasn't really a boyfriend"

"But really, though" she added, "do you remember the first time he saw you?"

"Ah, of course, I can't forget something that weird!" I replied. To this day, I still don't know what his name is, let alone where he went after High school, but I had very fond memories of when we spent time with each other. One of those memories is when he met me for the first time. He was in such a shock that I actually thought he was having ideas that the world was coming to an end.

* * *

"Hiratsuka, who is this girl?" I stuttered from having a panic attack. I knew it had to happen some day, but I've never thought that it would be at a place like that.

"Oh, she's my student, Yui-chan. Her mother decided to hire me to tutor her after I helped her with Japanese homework" Hiratsuka said, "Come on, Yui-chan, introduce yourself"

The little girl, who I wished wasn't the person I think she was, stayed behind Hiratsuka, gripping onto her tutor's skirt loosely.

"Don't worry, Yui-chan," Hiratsuka said reassuringly as she padded her head, "I know he looks like some kind of a bad guy, but he's actually nice. Usually.."

With that, the little girl slowly emerged from behind and eventually, she was standing right beside her tutor. "Hi", she said softly, in a manner that was the opposite of her older counterpart, "my name is Yui – Yuigahama Yui"

I've always seen Yuigahama as this energetic girl, occasionally emotional, but never once this timid. Every single day we had club, she would slide the door open and enthusiastically greet all the tenants of the room. Not once had I come close to even think that this side of her ever existed, it's just too far of from how she usually presents herself. Although I haven't completely pulled myself away from cynicism, if at all, but my attitude toward people wasn't even at the same level as her younger self.

"Hey, Y- Yui-chan", I said, having trouble addressing the girl as I was more used to saying her longer last name.

"I'm Hikigaya, Hikigaya Hachiman."

"Hikigaya.. Hachiman" she repeated, and retreated to the back of Hiratsuka.

"Oh right, Hikigaya-kun" Hiratsuka said, "Did you come across Fujimiya-san by any chance?"

"Nope, not that I have" I said, "Why, though?"

"It's supposed to be her shift right now" she said.

"I haven't seen her since morning. Though, she has this weird condition where her memories about her friends last only one week [0], doesn't she? So I don't blame her" I said.

"If that's the case.. Then I guess I'll have to stay for another shift, since everybody else seems to be out there having fun" she said with a slightly disappointed tone in her voice.

"Then, why don't you also stay with her, Hikigaya-kun?" said Hanasaki, who I already had forgotten about.

"Alright", I said. This time especially, I couldn't reject it, since it would come across to Hiratsuka that I had not feel comfortable being around her for some time now. To think positively about the whole situation, at least Yuigahama was there too, even though I would still be awkward if I had to stay with her by myself.

"What about you?" I asked Hanasaki.

She lowered herself down a bit, facing up to me.

"I'm supposed to be in a shift right now, actually. So, I have go now" she said and then turned around, but before she could walk away, she looked back at me.

"Have a great time, _you two_ " Hanasaki said and then winked, after which she finally set off to her class's food stall. The statement left a weird feeling on me, and I'm sure that it was the same for Hiratsuka. It didn't take a genius to figure out from her face that she was really uncomfortable. With those kinds of expressions from her, I know that the shift was going to be a long one.

* * *

[0] – Reference to Isshukan Friends


	11. Chapter 11

It had only been about five minutes into the shift, but to me it felt like I had been standing there since the beginning of Meiji era. The mood that Hanasaki left both of us in was a lot more intense than I had anticipated. Even if we were about a meter away from each other, which was enough distance for a person to consider himself alone, I could still feel the aura that Hiratsuka was emitting. At that point in time, I still haven't thought of what she was to me – even with Yukinoshita who I've known for longer, I'm still reluctant to consider her anything other than a relatively close club mate.

"Hikigaya, can I have hanpen, daikon, and eggs?" a student ordered suddenly, startling both Hiratsuka and I. The guy buying was my classmate whose name and face I've forgotten almost a long time ago. To his right stood a girl who I assumed was also my classmate.

"I'll have the same, except for daikon" the girl said.

The only reason I was able to recognize them as being in the same class is only one thing: they knew my name.

"Alright, in a sec" I replied, trying to get a hold of the ladle in order to scoop up the stock soup. As the tip of my finger was in reach, it went into contact with someone else's finger instead. I recognized whose it was right away without even having to look down. As if there was AC current running through one of our bodies, both Hiratsuka and I immediately pulled our arms away from each other.

"S- sorry!" Hiratsuka exclaimed at a high pitch, indicating that she was startled.

"N- no.. don't worry about it" I replied, not even having enough courage to make eye contact.

'Please, don't get embarrassed' I thought repeatedly as her cheeks heated up. It wasn't something that the younger Yuigahama should ever see. Luckily, though, there wasn't any notable reaction from her.

I was able to recollect myself and finally picked up the ladle, scooped up the stock soups and other components into the foam cup which I was holding in the other hand.

"Here, that'll be a hundred" I said to the guy, to which he took out a bill of the exact amount and exchanged it with the Oden. I was hoping that those guys didn't notice what we were going through, it was just too embarrassing to admit that you're actually a part of some stupid romance comedy. If everything were to go well, then they would've just left without saying anything other than "thank you".

As if responding to my thoughts, those two began whispering to each other. What made it bad was the fact that they were giggling, contributing to the paranoia I was having.

"Hey, I heard from the others that this is your second shift" the guy said, "how about you guys leave the stall to us and enjoy the festival?" the guy said. Well, at least it wasn't something that sound rash.

"It's fine. It's not like I mind staying here" Hiratsuka said.

"He's right, Hiratsuka. You should take some rest" I said, still not making any proper eye contact, though. It was true, she was doing more work than she was assigned to. It sort of vaguely reminded me of when Yukinoshita volunteered to be the vice chairman of the same event.

"I'm talking about you too, Hikigaya" the guy said playfully, fidgeting the spoon on the foam cup.

"No, I wasn't actually assigned any shift, so it's alright" I said.

"The more reason for you to not be here" he said as both of them make their way behind the stall. The guy grabbed me by the shoulder and handed me a thousand yen bank note with his other hand.

"Here, have this, Hikigaya," whispered the guy "Go on and have fun, and most importantly, don't forget to win prizes for her!"

"Thanks" I said, grabbing the money "but it's not what you-"

"Don't be shy" he said abruptly, grabbing my other shoulder and then pushed me out of the stall. He then went on to grab Hiratsuka's shoulders, "you too" he said.

"Kisaishi-kun, wait!" Hiratsuka resisted, looking toward the younger Yuigahama, "I brought my student with me today"

"Don't worry about it, Hiratsuka-san" said the other girl as she walked toward Hiratsuka, "we'll take good care of her"

"Now then" the girl said, grabbing her shoulder, "you should get going too"

"No.. not you too, Shichiyome-san" Hiratsuka cried.

"Don't worry about some little details, Hiratsuka-san" said the girl, pushing her away from the stall and toward me while holding up a mysterious grin, "Have fun, you two!"

With that, Hiratsuka and I started walking away, deeper into the festival grounds. It wasn't a very pleasant strolling, we were trying our best to keep our eyes from meeting each other through various means, including pretending to look around ourselves, as if trying to look for something interesting from within the stalls we were passing. If one of us were to not be there at that moment, then that may have been the actual purpose of our actions.

As we passed by the shooting range, I stopped to take a look for no apparent reason, probably making bad decisions due to panic. "H- hey" I said, "how about we stop here for a bit"

"Ah, shooting range" Hiratsuka said.

"Yeah" I said, ending the short but nonetheless awkward conversation. I'm not usually the type of person who would be able to take a particular topic and expand it into an actual conversation, and what happened then just proved the point that I'm trying to make. There are exceptions, of course – in the past few months I had been able to deal with fair amount of dialogue between classmates, especially with Hiratsuka. But because of the romantic-comedy nonsense going on, she somehow managed to become the person that I was least comfortable talking with within a very short period of time.

"Sir, would you like to give it a shot?" said the stall clerk. As I looked at the person I knew immediately that I messed up badly, because the one doing the shift was Hanasaki.

"Ha.. Hanasaki-san?!" Hiratsuka said, equally surprised.

"Hmm, what's wrong? Or is it that you're too scared of giving it a shot, sir?" Hanasaki said with a slight smirk on her face.

I reached out to the thousand yen bank that was given to me by the guy whose name I couldn't remember and pulled it off my pocket.

"Why not?" I said, trying to hand her the money. But instead of getting the money, she just stood there with her extended arm, smiling lightly. Suddenly, an arm was reached out from my left and grabbed the money. Before I was able to get a hold of myself, a person pulled the bank note off my hand and tackled me. The figure used the confusion to their advantage and ran away.

"Hi.. Hikigaya-kun, are you alright?!" Hiratsuka said as she lowered herself took hold of me.

"Hey!" I yelled at the escaping thief, then broke myself of Hiratsuka and chased after him.

"Hikigaya-kun!" she said, trying to run after me.

It was hard for me to make my way through because the place was crowded, and I had to push other people to the side. Luckily, I was able to maintain my sights on him all the way through, although I lost him because of the crowd a couple of times. Both the person and I made our way out of the festival area into the nearby woods. As we reached an open area, he dropped the money and continued running away. Which begs the question, if he was going to give up on the money anyway, then why did he stole it in the first place?

"Hikigaya-kun!" Hiratsuka called out, panting, finally catching up with me, "I thought I was going to have a heart attack. You ran so fast"

"The guy dropped the money he stole" I said as I picked up the bank note.

"What an idiot" Hiratsuka giggled when she finally caught up with her breath, after which an awkward silence ensued. Having trouble finding a better course of action, I decided to do something that was at least sensible. I turned around and started walking back the way I came, "Hiratsuka, let's go ba-"

"Hikigaya-kun!" she called out, stopping my pace as well as the speech I was trying my best to finish.

"What is it?" I questioned, my back still facing toward her.

"You know, I.. " Hiratsuka started with something. Don't get me wrong, I knew exactly what was going to happen. The setting was just way too convenient for any sensible person to not notice.

"I.. Hikigaya-kun _no koto_.. I-" [0]

"Stop right there" I interrupted her. These people must have had been playing a sick joke with me. The reason I chased after that guy wasn't because I was so desperate to not lose a thousand yen – right now I have all the money I'll ever need, even more so, in fact. Chasing after the guy allowed me to escape the atmosphere that those guys put two of us in, and after going through all that effort, I wasn't going to allow anything to make things worse.

"But.. but why?" she asked.

"Because it's not worth it" I said, "don't try to do anything stupid anymore"

"But Hikigaya-kun, I-"

"I told you to stop, didn't I?" I said, raising my voice to the point where it startled her.

"You don't even.. know what I was trying to say" she said.

"I do – don't look down on me" I said, "Dropping the money you stole half way through? Who is going to believe something like that? Face it, you're just trying to go with the momentum those guys created."

"Hi- Hikigaya.."

"I'm not playing by their game, and you shouldn't be either, Hiratsuka"

The reason I went to that extent was so that I could be sure she wouldn't try something like this again. I made up my mind a long time ago, that from then on, I would be on the search of something genuine. Teenage romance would be an absolute distraction, and judging from the fact that Hiratsuka knew me for almost as long as the other two girls, I thought she knew where I was getting at.

"Why are you being so insensitive?!" she cried.

"I'm not" I said, turning toward her. "I'm just trying to make sure that you-"

Seeing her face put in me a big shock – I realized that I said something I wasn't supposed to. Tears were streaming from her eyes as her body trembled from having both her fists clenched too firmly.

"You're the worst!"

"No! Hiratsuka, that's not what I-"

But it was a bit too late; as I said so, she was already stomping her way into the deeper parts of the woods.

"You are not going after her?" someone said from the distance. I recognized the owner of the voice right away, having learned my lesson from earlier.

"I don't have to" I replied, all the while poking holes on the ground with the tip of my foot.

"Don't you think you're being a bit cruel to her, Hikigaya-kun?" the person said, inching closer.

"You guys are the ones who set this whole thing up," I said, turning back to look at Hanasaki, "Am I the guilty one here?"

"Seeing through other people's game doesn't make you guilty, but Hiratsuka-san is oblivious to this whole thing," she said, putting on her serious look, "and you know it. You just wanted to pretend otherwise in order to protect a certain resolve of yours"

"Then, knowing all that," I said, slowly losing my temper, "what do you expect me to do?!"

"Respect her feelings, as well as your own" she said.

"What do you mean by that?"

"You made some kind of promise with someone, but before you could fulfill it, something major happened and it pulled you away from those people. This is what I know."

I did say that I wanted something "genuine", but it wasn't a promise – I wasn't going to fulfill it for anyone. If anything, it was more of a declaration, one that acted as a buffer to prevent those two from clashing any further. Had I break my own words, and then indulge myself in such a thing as teenage romance, wouldn't I become a hypocrite? What happened a few days prior, I remembered it bit by bit: the feelings of having Yuigahama so close to me, of having my nickname name being called after so long, and her lips. All of that created a burning sensation in my heart, and it made me feel conflicted in every possible way.

"It would be unfair for those people, ones that you said I made promises to," I murmured with my trembled voice, "I just didn't know what I should do"

"Whether you like it or not, those people I spoke of aren't in your reach, not anymore. Likewise, you aren't in theirs either. The only person then who cared enough to do that, is none but Hiratsuka-san – what you're essentially doing is throwing all her hard work off the window. You know from the bottom of your heart that you have a room for her down there, it's just that you're too afraid to move forward"

Even now, I hate to admit it, but what she said was right on spot. Because I was lost and blinded, and probably stupid too, that I decided to attempt at taking a leap of faith. The one person who stopped me from doing that was Hiratsuka, whether or not that's what she intended to do in the first place.

"I'm sorry" I did my best at apologizing, even knowing that it wouldn't solve anything unless I take any real actions.

"Hmm? What for?"

"For being so stupid"

"I'm not the one who you should be apologizing to, Hikigaya-kun" she said playfully, with the tone of voice opposite to what she was using earlier, "that person has already gone far into the woods. I hope she's still safe"

I turned around to the direction that Hiratsuka ran off to.

"Thanks, Hanasaki" I said, and ran off into the woods.

* * *

'It hurts' was what I thought when he shot me down so violently. I still have not figured out which hurt more, the fact that he was trying to accuse me of something I didn't even know about, or that he didn't even listen to what I had to say.

I kept running forward, no matter if it were rocks, or trees that were blocking my way. For every step I ran, I would get scratches somewhere, either on my body or on my clothes, but that was not I was thinking about. I had nothing on my mind, as if it was just my body that was telling me to keep running forward. I didn't know why, I felt like I just had to.

"Hikigaya-kun, you idiot!" I blurted out as I made my way through the woods.

Because of the tears that were running down from my eyes, the world around me appeared blurry. It doesn't help for the that it was during night time, and that there was very little light shining through the woods, most of them coming from the stalls of the cultural festival.

My degraded vision finally had me paid for when I stepped on the leveled ground that I couldn't see, making me fall down. The momentum that I gained when I ran caused me to roll on my sides for a certain distance, to which I finally stopped when my body made an impact with a tree.

I stood up slowly, trying to get on my foot. I rested myself toward the tree as I got up, resting so that I would have enough strength to move forward – I didn't sprain my ankle, luckily.

But before I could've moved on, my named was called out from afar, "Hiratsuka!"

Knowing the who the owner of the voice was, it made me somewhat happy, but the anger was definitely still there, so much so I didn't want to make a reply.

"Hiratsuka!" the voice grew closer and closer, "Where are you?!"

"Hiratsuka!" he said once more, but this time the volume did not change.

I took a peek carefully, and there he was, standing back against the tree I was hiding behind.

* * *

I stopped running in the middle of nowhere, but the calling of her name didn't stop.

"Hiratsuka!" I called out, panting heavily.

"I know that I'm the worst – I always get that from other people, but this time I really overdid it, letting my selfishness take over." I said.

I laid against a tree, trying to balance myself after all the voice projections I went through.

"I know it's weird that I'm talking this much, and that you might not want to listen to anything that comes out of my mouth, but if you could hear me out It'd be great, even if you may not be here at all" I said, "I had a dream a few days back, and it made me realize that I might not be able to meet the ones I care about again. But if there was one thing that I didn't realize, it's that you were there stopping me from doing something stupid – In fact, you were always there. I'm sorry, I really am"

"Hiratsuka, I'm sorry!" I gathered all my strength and projected my voice once more, hoping that she was somewhere my voice could have reached.

"Hi- no.. Shizuka!.. I'm sorry for being such an ungrateful jerk!"

After a short while, a forehead rested on my back suddenly.

"Do you really mean it?" said someone from behind that needed no introduction. I was initially startled (as with anyone who would have others appearing behind them unannounced), but I ended up reassured nonetheless.

"Yeah, I mean it. I'm sorry, Hiratsuka"

"Repeat that, but this time call me Shizuka instead", she said, grabbing my right hand, and crossing the fingers.

"I'm sorry, Shizuka"

"Good boy"

Releasing my hands and parting her forehead, she said "Now turn around", which was what I did.

The atmosphere was similar to that of when we were together at the stall – the excitement was there, but without the repulsiveness.

"Would you allow me to finish this time?" she asked rhetorically.

"Go ahead" I said, giving her the heads up, without which she would have said what she wanted to anyway.

"I love you, Hikigaya-kun"

It wasn't right of me to have prejudged her intentions in the first place.

"Me too, Shizuka"

I might have had gave in to the illusion of youth, but I really did not care. Since the beginning, my stance on typical romantic relationship have not changed; I still think those who practice such a thing are the people who care too much of their status among their peers. However, not all relationships have to be convenient tickets for better social perception, and I didn't intend to start one as such.

To a normal person, that may not be counted as a proper relationship – it's just wrong.

But hey, _My Teenage Love Comedy is Wrong as Expected_.

* * *

 **A/N: Thank you everyone for sticking by with the story! I apologize if the last chapter was a bit confusing for some, which was why I tried my best to fill it all up in this chapter. I would also like to apologize if things were a bit cringe worthy, and that it seemed a bit out of character for 8man to do the things he did - I felt like it was appropriate since I already established the settings in the last chapter.** **With all that said, I hope you enjoy a little footnote! :)**

[0] - _no koto_ roughly translates to "the thing about" or just "about", which is why in a confession scene in some Anime, the subtitle will say something weird like "I.. about you..". I'm not clear on the details (so are the native speakers), but in this context it doesn't do anything other than to prevent confusion between the one who likes and the one who got liked.


	12. Chapter 12

Time has always been an interesting topic for me, because unlike what most people think, there isn't just one linear route that drags everything in the universe along with it, but rather, there are infinitely many with each one having its own universe. It's intriguing, but at the same time I could not help but be scared of what could come out of it.

I have seen many possibilities, and believe me when I say that not all of them ended happily – more than half of them involved him getting crushed by gravity just because his teacher didn't make it in time. There were a lot of cases where I couldn't butt in to help, regardless of how much I wanted to, and that is because time is already as messed up as it is untouched, and even if it isn't, it's not like I would be able to.

However, out of all the timelines, there will always be one or two that I'd lay my hands on every now and then.

They are the ones that are actually in my reach.

* * *

"But in the end, you guys still ended up going out with each other" I said, commenting on the story told by Hiratsuka-sensei, "so yes, he was totally your boyfriend!"

"I guess you're right, Yuigahama" she said as she scratched her head.

"As I thought, hehe"

Hiratsuka-sensei stayed silent for a short while, after which her expression suddenly switched to an exhausted one.

"Sensei, what's wrong?" I expressed my concern.

"Yuigahama" she said, and paused for a little, "It's about time that I should tell you the most important details, namely what happened before Cultural festival"

"Is there a significant in that?" I said.

"It's very important, I've been waiting to share it meaningfully for a decade, so I hope you listen carefully" she replied in a serious tone. I was surely surprised, especially having heard of her success story just several seconds ago.

"Several days before the festival, he had a dream, one that reminded him of those he cared about."

When I first heard of that, I did not think much into it as I thought it was just some petty coincidence. This year's Cultural Festival was held on the same day as ten years ago, which was just the day prior. Two days before that, I had my fair share of the dreams about the person I care about too, and a lucid one at that.

"Months before that, Yukinoshita ran away from home and lost her stuffed bear along the way"

"Sensei, you heard of that story too? The one where a kind stranger handed her a Pan-san plushie"

"I was there when it happened. The person who gave that to her is the same guy we are talking about, and he didn't actually gave her a plushie. He took a remaining piece of poster that was ripped from the wall, drew a picture of a panda on it with a sharpie marker, and gave it to her"

I knew that I was in the situation where such thing isn't appropriate, but I almost burst out into laughter at how twisted the reality can be compared to what was told. To be honest, I felt guilty about it, as holding those information to herself seemed to have caused her a fair amount of pain, and the least I could do to comfort her was to listen carefully.

"Two days before that, 10th of November, was when I first met him. Now, add it all up, and you get exactly three months and two days"

"Three months and two days" I repeated. Somehow, the numbers were ringing bells faintly within my mind, as if trying their best to remind me of one very important detail. I spent several clock ticks thinking, staring blank into empty space, and when it finally struck me, it did so very bluntly.

"Sensei.. what's his name?" I said, looking straight into her eyes, anticipating only one answer

"You finally figured it out, Yuigahama" she said, trying her best to smile.

Despite her indirectness, I knew exactly what she was trying to get across.

"Why didn't you tell us earlier?"

She averted her eyes, and did not reply.

"Hiratsuka-sensei!" I called her out, slowly getting agitated, "I asked you why you didn't tell us earlier?! You knew about it since the beginning, and yet you left us wondering all this time?"

"I'm sorry, I thought you girls wouldn't believe in something so unrealistic" she said, sobbing as her eyes became all teary, "When I finally get to see him during your first year's entrance ceremony, I didn't believe it either. 'It's probably his son', I thought of it that way."

Wiping the tears off her face, she said "But no, after seeing him backing off from any social interaction, trying to think of himself as being so highly and understanding of human nature, I was convinced that it's him. You won't believe how much I wanted to just walk through all the seats, grab him off to the sides and embrace him as hard as I could"

I didn't expect to hear such things from her, the person who usually has a cool and firm demeanor. It's true that I've seen her being weak, but not once have I seen her desperate, which I know I really wasn't in the position to say that since I was being equally, maybe even more so. But all that didn't really justify her keeping everything from us.

"When is he coming back?"

"I- I don't know"

"But you have been there, you said that yourself"

"It's been ten years. Do you really think I want to remember everything for such a long time?"

I couldn't hold off my tears either after learning of the truth. If anything, I felt betrayed for the fact that Hiratsuka-sensei has always been honest, although blunt. She should've known best that Yukinon and I should be one of the firsts to be told of such important information.

Not being able to handle my emotions any longer, I quickly stood up and went for the door, trying to exit the room as fast as I could. But as I was about to set my foot outside, I was startled by a figure who seemed to have just stood there for god knows how long.

"Greetings, Yuigahama-san" the figure said. It was a middle aged lady who had the bodily features that reminded me of another person that I know. Her cold, light blue eyes and her long, black hair were ones that stood out to me the most.

"Yuigahama-san, isn't it a bit inappropriate to lash out at your teacher like that?"

Lecturing me on social behaviors aside, the fact that she seemed to know what was going on was quite intriguing. For some reason, I felt as if it wasn't my first meet with her.

"Wh- who are you?" I asked the lady.

"You're that lady.." Hiratsuka-sensei said.

"Huh?!" I exclaimed, looking back and forth between the two.

"Hiratsuka-san, how have you been doing?" said the lady, shifting her attention to the Japanese teacher, "I can't believe it's already been a decade for you that we last met – the last time I saw you was just yesterday"

"You haven't changed at all"

"Neither did you, Hiratsuka-san" the lady said, "the only thing different about you now is that you got taller"

The conversation left me a little clueless about what was going on. A moment ago we were being emotional, but then we changed to some kind of a reunion?

As I looked back at her, she already had the tears wiped off, smiling slightly.

"Now, Hiratsuka-san" she added, "I know that you wouldn't be able to remember everything from ten years ago, but do you at least remember a certain promise?"

"Of course" she said, "after all, that's exactly why I became a teacher in the first place"

After finishing with the statement, she turned her eyes to me.

"Yuigahama"

"Yes?"

"I'm sorry about all that I've put you through. For now, please follow that lady over there, she'll fill you in with all the details you'll ever want to know"

* * *

I had not once expected to be confessed to by any sensible girl, let alone having to accept from one. Looking back where my life was when I entered High school, I thought I had disconnected myself from this one thing I believed was created by those who failed in the past.

I did, but that wasn't until I was assigned a paper that I wouldn't be able to write had I stuck with the original topic. It was that point in life where, initially, you thought things are going downhill fast.

"Man, I'm really tired", Shizuka said as she rested her head on my shoulders, "people are just using Service Club for labour work, aren't they?"

"Not that I don't get how you feel" I replied, "but it's not like you were denying their request either"

"Hmm! Not you too, Hikigaya-kun" she said, looking up to my face and pouted.

Throughout the train ride, I ran through a couple of things in my head, one of them was me deciding or not whether my life was still going downhill.

Even then, I was still untrusting of others. Me deciding to chase after her wasn't due of the fact Hanasaki successfully convinced me, even though she surprisingly did, or that I suddenly made a decision to change my stance on this whole thing, but that the very little shard of empathy that I had drove me to do so.

I remember that feeling after getting rejected by Orimoto, it wasn't a very pleasant one, even if it was a coating for what I actually felt, which was just disappointment. It was fortunate of me that I didn't have any friends, or else I would've had create unnecessary drama, an action that people normally use the phrase "consulting your friends" to refer to.

My train of thought was put to halt as the train itself was gradually stopping.

"Huh? Its stopping?" Shizuka said.

"Seems like so" I said as the train came to a complete stop.

I then heard footsteps from the cabinet behind me, which I thought was weird, since I didn't remember anybody else who regularly used the line at that particular time other than Shizuka and I. Well, it wasn't as if I remember people in general anyway. But the sound was gradually getting nearer and nearer, and when It finally stopped, there was a person visible within my peripheral vision. Responding to my own curiosity, I decided to turn to the person's to take a quick look at who it was, I immediately regretted boarding the train.

The person who stood there at the cabinet door was the same police officer who attacked us months earlier. Physically, there was nothing being emitted from him, but I somehow was able the sense the killing intent coming my way.

It was one of those moments that I hoped I was just having a bad dream.

* * *

"To give you a simple explanation," said the lady as she entered the train, "there are many different timelines running in parallel, each holding its own possibilities – some are the same, but they're mostly different"

"So" I said, barely made it past the warning beeps before the door closes, "right now he is in a different timeline?"

"Yes, Yuigahama-san" she said, "luckily, the layout of events in that timeline so far is exactly the same as this one"

"But you just said 'they're mostly different'"

"True, there has to be a difference somewhere – it has always been the case" she said, "Yuigahama-san, do you remember when your teacher said she doesn't recall when Hikigaya-kun went back?"

"Yes, what about it?"

"The truth is, even if she does, there is no guarantee that it would be the same here."

"What do you mean?" I asked, slightly confused.

"Yuigahama-san, the reason why timelines are created, according to one of the theories at least, is to provide alternative outcomes for a scenario. If everything that has happened in that timeline has been the same so far, then there will definitely be a difference sooner or later."

When I heard of the explanation, fear struck me. If the Hikki I met when I was younger was able to go back to his timeline, then there is a chance that Hikki from this timeline wouldn't be able to come back. That was what I thought.

"But then again, Yuigahama-san," she added, "since we're going to be meddling with the timeline anyway, all of that would be irrelevant – we can always make those changes be in our favor, can't we?"

It was probably due to her very calm and occasionally soothing tone of voice, but her words reassured me to nonetheless. Nothing having anything else I wanted to say, I simply smiled back at her.

"Yuigahama-san, as soon as we reach the halfway between Tsuga and Yotsukaido stations, we should already be in a different timeline. Initially, it wouldn't feel any different because there is no visible transition of any kind, and also because the time on the clock is exactly the same as they are here. In any case, you should get yourself ready"

"Alright" I said, trying my best to be confident.

I tried all the ways possible to mentally prepare myself for what was to come – it would be proven useful to me later on, after I stepped into the place that I'm familiar with, yet at the same time I knew nothing of it.

 **A/N: It's not over yet :)**


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: A little reply to Haru-san-senpai and rajdiangelo: I haven't actually watched Steins; Gate. What a coincidence. Well, since the story is on a subject of time, I guess there are bound to be similarities. Now, with that over, enjoy the chapter! :)**

The questions I had was about to be answered in details, but new knowledge always brings with it even more questions. Rather than trying to answer each and every one of them, people are less likely to get lost had they only choose the few that are meaningful.

Looking past Shizuka, I gasped at the presence of the one that I would never have thought I'd meet again. The dark blue vest over the lighter blue shirt, the height, the facial features and even the cap – the appearance of the man at the cabinet's door completely matched the one of the same police officer who attacked me months ago. On one hand, I wanted to tell Shizuka so that she could've quickly ran away, but on another, I just wanted to charge in. It was as if my body had completely frozen; I was too scared to make any decision.

By the time he took his first step, my body was already drenched in sweat from the pressure, and when he took his second, I felt like I was going to faint. The only thing that kept me intact was the knowledge that if, much like last time, something would've happened to me, then there would be no one to protect her. I still don't exactly know how we survived then, but clearly, luck was working in our favor.

Making his third step, the officer went with his weird battle stance, similar to the last encounter. Finally, with his fourth, he started running. In a heartbeat, he was already behind Shizuka, ready to stab either of us. Because I did not have the luxury of time for any thought, I acted from my reflexes: I grabbed Shizuka and rotated myself until my back was to receive the blade instead of hers.

I anticipated a very sharp clash between the knife and my flesh, but what I got was a loud thud instead. Knowing immediately that steel probably should not have made that sound, I felt a bit reassured, but I was still worried about the rest that happened. I returned from seeing complete darkness, to seeing the an unbelievable sight. To the left of my eyes, I saw an arm that was stretched from the back of my head with it fist clenched. And in front of me, I saw the officer being knocked back a few feet, his right cheek a bit dented.

"Hi- Hikigaya-kun.. what just happened?!" Shizuka said, looking up to me.

I turned my head as far back as I could, and there stood a middle aged lady.

"Greetings, Hikigaya-kun," said the lady, "sorry for making you wait, I'll be taking care of that guy now"

The lady ran passed me through my left toward the officer. Then standing in front of him, she threw an uppercut, knocking him back even more. What happened after, I could not describe exactly, but she kept throwing punches at him, all the while dodging any one that came her way. There were about a thing or two happening between them every time any one of them made a step. It was similar to seeing those middle school boys suffering from 8th Grade Syndrome, but a lot more realistic.

"Hikigaya-kun, it's that officer again" said Shizuka, her voice slightly trembled in fear as she held me even tighter.

"It's alright, Shizuka. That lady – she's good – I'm sure she could take care of that guy easily" I said.

As I was captivated by what was in front of me, I did not have any attention left to pay to what was going on behind me.

"Hikki.." the nickname I have not heard in awhile was said from behind..I recognized who it was standing behind me, even if I did not have to analyze the quality of the person's voice. It's one of those moments when you knew who was behind you, yet you wouldn't want to go through the trouble of turning back to see who it was, and usually you'll ended up pretending that you didn't hear. This is kind of like that, but times a million.

I turned back once again, this time making sure that I'd be able to see every single person that was behind me.

"Yui.. gahama" I said.

Upon realizing that I was still holding Shizuka, I quickly released the grasp and backed off from her a little.

"Yu- Yui-chan?" Shizuka said in confusion, "Hikigaya-kun.. is she really-"

But before she could've finished, Yuigahama made an eighty degree turn and ran off into the other cabinet.

"Yuigahama!" I called out to her, but she did not stop. But as I was about to set my foot back and start running after her, both Shizuka and the lady called out in unison, "Hikigaya-kun!"

Being put in such as dilemma, I stopped. Not wanting to waste any time in that critical moment, I came up with a simple, yet effective solution.

"Shizuka, please go after Yuigahama" I said.

"Hikigaya-kun, what is the meaning of this? What is going on?" she said.

"I ask of you, Shizuka, please go after Yuigahama – I promise, I'll explain everything you want to know later" I said.

I did not get a proper reply from her, but she nodded, indicating her approval. Already facing the other cabinet, she ran off, trying her best to catch up with Yuigahama, all the while calling her name, telling her to stop.

I shifted my attention back to the two adults who were flailing their arms at each other, waited for the right moment, and charged in. When I was a certain distance away from the officer, I lept in and successfully caught him, pushing him down to the floor.

The lady was startled, but she was able to recollect herself immediately.

"Lady, now's your chance!" I said, trying my best to contain the police.

"Just give me a moment" she said, taking out a handkerchief from one pocket, and a small corked glass bottle containing a clear colored substance from the other. With one hand, she used her thumb to push out the cork from the bottle, and poured the contained substance on to the handkerchief. It was probably very inappropriate of me, but I did find it very pleasing the watch.

Right before the officer could have regained enough strength to push me away, the lady place the handkerchief on the officer's face. He started flailing his limbs violently, so much so that I was pushed back, but eventually, whatever was on the handkerchief knocked him out.

"He should be down for at least an hour or two," the lady said, "Hikigaya-kun, I want to go check on the girls. I know they won't get thrown into another timeline while running that pace, but I still want to make sure"

I do not consider myself an easily infuriated person – I wanted to, at any cause, stop myself from becoming like those social heads who whine just because things don't go their way. But having been sent back ten years earlier for three full months, one would tend to change.

"Wait" I said, quickly standing up and grabbed her by the wrist, preventing her from making another step.

"What is it, Hikigaya-kun?" she said.

"You know what I'm going for" I said, slowly tightening my grip, "There are things I've been wanting to ask since first meeting you, lady."

"Hikigaya-kun, It's hurts.."

"Stop it. I finally get to see you – I'm not going to let this chance slip by"

"Hikigaya-kun.. time doesn't have an effect on your personality, does it?" she said, "I see that you are the same as ever, always refusing to put yourself in someone else's shoes"

"How about you put yourself in mine!" I said, releasing all the built up emotions in one shot, "You know full well since the beginning what I've been through, yet you decided to hide everything from me. In the first place, why was I sent back? And what does the fact have to do with you? Who in the world are you?"

"Let go of me!" she yelled, swinging side by side the bounded arm.

"Answer me then" I murmured, expressing my emotional pain unsuited for a lone wolf like me.

As if feeling somewhat guilty, she averted her eyes.

"You were already well off being a Japanese teacher, Hikigaya-kun.." she said, "Yet, perhaps because of your stupidity, you followed him"

"What do you mean?" I said.

"Years after you became a teacher, East Japan Railway Company put up a poster around Chiba, advertising its new job that doesn't require a degree from any specific field, and pays really well. Too well, in fact. Let's just say you wouldn't have to work at all for the rest of your life once you get paid."

I had almost no idea what she was talking about, yet it all made sense. Working for an organization was what I had been working to avoid getting myself into doing for the rest of my employed life. Had I really become a teacher, I don't see why I wouldn't accept such an offer. Sobu High may be a public school, but it is funded by the government – to me it's no different from working for any traditional corporations.

"That police officer I just knocked out – Officer Hanasaki Kazunari – he was your colleague in university. You both agreed to each other to go for the for the job together, and you did, but.." she said, trying her best to swallow the words down her throat.

"Since I'm already in this much trouble, I don't think hearing about the cause of it would be a problem. It won't get any worse" I said, trying to stay firm on the topic.

"You.. never came back. The reason the company was willing to pay so much is exactly because of the possibility that may happen. They never told us anything, so I decided to take on the job myself. I found out later that Hanasaki left you in some other place in order to get your portion of the payment, and he's planning to do it to you again."

With that statement done, little tears started dripping from her eyes one by one. It didn't take much time that those little tears became unstoppable, and eventually she started sobbing along with it.

"When I said 'try putting yourself in someone else's shoes', I really mean it" she said, "I've been jumping back and forth for more than two decades, trying to stop Hanasaki from going to your time, but he eventually found his way there – it's why I brought you here in the first place"

My mind was in a state of confusion; to think that a person would have spent twenty years trying to make you of all people safe, it all seemed too fictional to be true. I was not convinced that was the whole story – who would devote a quarter of their life in doing something like that. I ran through the endless possibilities in my head, taking every possible variable related to her into consideration, from her talking style, her purposes, and even her appearance.

But when I took a look at her face carefully, my body went into a state of shock as I made a certain realization I should've made the first time I met her.

"You.."

The slightly grey colored and long hair; the chilly-blue pair of eyes; the speech pattern; I knew it since the beginning, looking at her, that she resembled a certain person I know, but I thought it was all too trivial.

"Yukinoshita" I said, calling out the name that I thought belonged to the lady, but rather than giving off a relieved expression, she smiled slightly and shook her head.

"After you were reported as missing, she could've changed it back to that, but she decided not to. That's why I'm not Yukinoshita" she said.

"What are you talking about?" I said, responding to the vagueness of her statement, "if you're not Yukinoshita, then who are you?"

"I am Hikigaya Yukie" she said, "having kept it to myself all these years – it was really painful, you know? Finally getting it out to you somehow made me feel at ease"

There was no need for any insightful analysis of the statement as there was only one possible interpretation. All of the things she said that I thought was extremely vague, they somehow turned into very coherent explanations. It should come to no one's surprise, then, that my initial reaction was anything but calm.


	14. Chapter 14

I guess it was the closest thing one could get to being "corporate-independent", but I still found my career as a teacher unfit for who I consider myself to be. One of the most important job as a typical educator is to prepare their pupils to deal with the real world, and that in itself isn't an issue for me since I've had considerable amount of experiences – what I was skeptical about is to whether or not the parents would've agreed with the method I'd be teaching the kids.

"Hikigaya-kun, what have you been teaching the kids?" the principal said.

"I've been teaching them Japanese" I replied with confidence, "I believe that is what my BA in Japanese is for, Shiromeguri-sensei"

"No.. not that" she said, "I heard from the parents that a teacher has been teaching their children some.. well, how do I put it.."

"'Questionable life lessons', I'm guessing, would be the closest to how they had described it" I said.

"Exactly – I heard that you told a boy who asked you for love advice to stop going for his crush because 'youthful romance is a lie', and that 'the whole thing is just an illusion'" she said, inherently summarizing the foundations of my social beliefs.

"I say it's better to prevent one from being deluded, and let them stay on tasks at hand" I said.

"I say.. you should tone things down a bit – I know you have good intentions, Hikigaya-kun, but I want you to understand that the parents don't see it that way, and it certainly would be the same for the school board if things get through to them" she said.

"It's just an association of teachers, Shiromeguri-sensei.. even if they don't approve of me, I still don't believe they have the power to strip me off my teaching rights" I said.

"Not by themselves, that's for sure, but I don't see why they wouldn't team up with the parents to bring it to the prefectural office to get you fired" she replied, "By that point, even I couldn't help you.."

Of course, that was the case like it had always been: people usually take things I do at face value, and they usually do it in different light than I do. That said, it's worth mentioning that it's not like I've been given consent to be teaching my personal values.

"When you pulled that off during Cultural Festival, not many people knew what you were trying to do.. that's why the entire school hated you.." she said

Ah, yes, that.. train wreck of an event, one that wouldn't have gone wrong if the chairman wasn't an attention hungry drama queen.

"Try not to pull that off again, alright?" she said, giving me a smile.

"I understand, Sensei – Now if you'll excuse me" I said, bowing and then turned toward the door.

"Oh.. and one more thing" she said, stopping my first step.

"Yes, what is it, Sensei?" I said.

"Say Hi to your wife for me, Hikigaya-kun – after I left high school, I haven't had a chance to meet her at all, so as soon as I heard that you two are married, I couldn't help but want to give my regards to her" she said, "I've never thanked her properly for her efforts back then"

I turned back to Shiromeguri-sensei, who was making a worried expression. Rightly so, if I may say so myself..

"Don't worry about it – I'll make sure the word gets through to her"

I'll be honest, It's hard even for me to imagine that I managed to get a women to say "yes" with all the the things I look for in a girl (although she has none of it). I wouldn't describe my relationship with her as shallow, but at the same time, the meaning behind it isn't that deep either.

"Ah, if it isn't my boy, Hikigaya.." said someone as I exited the school gate.

"Ah, if it isn't the police officer who suffers from superiority complex, Hanasaki" I replied, "now, if you'll excuse me"

"As uptight as ever, I see" he said, to which I stopped in front of him.

"You gotta loosen up man!"

That guy is Hanasaki Kazunari, a police officer who was stationed at a newly built koban near Sobu High, and also my colleague at university. He was also doing a BA in language studies, so why he decided to become a police officer is beyond me.

"So, what up?" he asked, "I saw a group of angry parents this morning – I'm guessing that was your doing?"

"Who knows? Someone probably took what I said the wrong way.. even if they did, it's not like the parents know how I look" I said.

"But man.. you gotta tone things down a notch.. Do know how much trouble you've put me through this morning?" He asked rhetorically, "It almost turned into a riot!"

"That'd actually not be bad.. I would be able to get a day off" I said.

"Man.. work-hating as always, I see" he said, "Anyway, I'll have to get back to guard duty.. and oh, don't forget about this Saturday"

"Of course, not – if the job's done, none of us has to be slaves for the rest of our lives" I replied, to which he said nothing else, and just smiled at me before leaving for his post.

The job we were referring to was the one that The Eastern Railway Company was recruiting for. Although none of the posters they put up to advertise around Chiba had any specific job description on them, as far as I know, the only qualifications they required is a high school diploma or the equivalent. Well, the part that Hanasaki and I cared about the most was, of course, the payment. After the job was done, the company promised a large sum of money for those participated.

"I still can't get over the fact that it sounds like a scam, Hikki"

"It's a railway company, I don't think they'll make go through a space-time portal"

..was what I said in reply, but it goes without saying that, while I'll take on the offer, I'm still doubtful about what they'll make me do.

"That aside, Yuigahama, you're 28, and you're still comfortable addressing me like that?" I asked as we walked along the path to the train station.

"What? Do you have a problem with that?" she said, staring straight into my eyes.

"No.. not really.. Whatever fancies you.." I said, averting the eyesight.

Then she started skipping, trying to be slightly ahead of me with every step I made. And yes, it was embarrassing walking alongside a woman in her twenties skipping along the sidewalk.

"So.. how is she?" Yuigahama asked.

"Well.. I guess she's alright" I said.

"You always say that" she said, now walking normally, "are you hiding something from me?"

"Heck no!" I said, "it's just that there's really nothing worth mentioning.. it'd be redundant if I have to talk about her daily routines all over again"

"Only you'd say something like that" she said, looking down on the ground, smiling. As if she was already satisfied, she changed the topic a little, "What about Yukie-chan?"

I have to applaud her for that; she may not be intelligent, but it's her social skills I've alway find intriguing. That's probably how she managed to stay with different groups of people with varying personality.

"She's doing better with her life than I did, I guess that's all I am able to say" I said.

"Hmph!" she said, pinching my right cheek "how about you be more specific?"

"How am I supposed to be even remotely specific?! The question you asked was itself very broad" I said.

"I see.. I guess you haven't really grown up after all, Hikki" she said, pouting, then quickly changing it to a smile "But I guess that's alright, it means you're still the same Hikki that I've always known.. hehe"

"Hmm.. whatever you say" I said, to which, I swear at that moment my entire face went red.

As a married man (no matter how stupid that may sound coming from me), I am tasked with working to provide for the family. No one ever said I am not to be swayed by a woman's beauty – I am a human after all, and all that may just very well have just been a series of chemical reactions.. Yes, that had to be it..

"Ah, my way home is on the right" Yuigahama said as I was about to make my first step across an intersection.

"Then I suggest we part our ways here" I said, but did not get an immediate reply as we stood there for a short while.

"If only things were different" she said suddenly, before I could've had a chance to break the silence.

At that very moment, I felt the atmosphere around us changing as Yuigahama looked at me straight in the eye. No more words were said, but I still was able to sense an overwhelming amount of feeling.. feeling of confidence coming from her. Her eyes were tender, yet filled with seriousness – it was a sight I have not seen in a long time.

I felt as if time had stopped moving.

"Yuiga-"

"Bye bye, Hikki.." she said, keeping the same expression from earlier, probably even after she had turned away. She walked away at a constant pace, not glancing back even after I called out her name.

All the time I spent on the train, I thought about the current aspects of my life, trying my best to distract myself from the last statement she made. All my efforts were all in vain, however, as the thought still remained in my mind as I was approaching my apartment building.

"Ah, you're home early, Hachiman"

"They thought I worked too hard, so Shiromeguri-sensei had Hayama substituted and sent me home.. And oh, before I forget, she wanted to me give her regards to you"

"I see.. "

As much as I would've liked to pretend I didn't know what Yuigahama was trying to get across, I couldn't have possibly done so..

"So.. anything happened today, Yukino?"

..and that's because, as I come home everyday, it would've been right in front of me. All of this that I have – it's not pleasant for her to think about it – I at least know this much.

"Yukie's fever has gone down, that's one" Yukino said as I entered the living room, "she's still sleeping in her room"

"Thanks, I'll go and check her out"

But then again, I have something far more important than a never ending feud that started in high school to take care of.

I went through the living room to doors on the opposite end of the entrance, one of them leads to I and Yukino's bedroom, and the other to Yukie's bedroom. I reached for the knob of the latter, gently turning it, and pulled it open slowly. Her bed was placed on the top left corner from the door – not a great distance, but there were still rooms for me to accidentally make a noise that would've awoken her. I then sneaked across the room, making sure that with each step I took, my foot won't run into a toy that happened to be lying around.

..and there she was, right in front of me, one of the only things I would not let the byproducts of my pessimism ever get their hands on.

My first instinct after hearing the news from Yukino was to check on her fever. Again, I made sure that I did so as gently as I could when I brushed her bangs to the side and placed my hand on her forehead. It was true after all, her temperature had gone down considerably, but it still wasn't at the point where I'd call it 'normal'.

"Nn.. nnn" the girl groaned. I quickly took my hands off, knowing what I had done.

"Otou-san?" she said as she slowly opened her eyes.

"Oh.. uhh.. Sorry for waking you up, Yukie" I said.

She sat up and said, smiling, "No, no.. I was having a bad dream.."

"What sort of dream did you have?" I said.

"Okaa-san was crying" she said, looking down to her laps, "it was because Otou-san did not come back home"

Even a small child had to go through the seeing of such a possibility – the world sure do not have any exception for anyone, I see.

"But I am right here, at home" I said, kneeling down to her match her height, and placed both my hands on her shoulder, "and you don't have to worry about Okaa-san – she's a very strong woman"

"Really?" she asked.

"Really" I replied, trying my best to persuade her to smile in a time such as this, "She wouldn't weep just because an insignificant individual disappeared"

"What does that mean, Otou-san?" she asked.

It was probably how I phrased it, or it's the fact that she didn't understand the vocabularies I used – either way, I purposely made it so that she wouldn't be able to make out the meaning. Had I done otherwise, she would have said something along the lines of "that's not true", but that's just would've just been her trying to being optimistic.

Yukino did not shed a single tear even when I finally returned back then, and that's why I was so sure..

"You don't have to worry about it, Yukie" I said, "You should go back to sleep"

"Alright", she said, putting herself back into the blanket, "Can you sit beside me until I fall asleep, Otou-san?"

"Why not?" I said, sitting on the edge of her bed.

She reached her hand out of the blanket to hold mine, then asked, "Otou-san, are you still going to go work at the train station?"

A straight-forward question that came out of nowhere, indeed.

"Yeah, Otou-san will get a lot of money with this job", I replied. Had I said that to anyone older than her, that statement would've sounded real bad..

"Are you going to be building to tracks?" she asked, "I learned in school that those kinds of jobs are dangerous"

"It's nothing dangerous, so you really have nothing to worry about" I said.

"If Otou-san says that, then I guess it's fine" she said.

I can't say that I don't find her naivete cute, but even if she knew more about the world than she did then, I still wouldn't be able to answer that question – I myself didn't know what the railway company had in stores for me. What I knew, was that if all goes well, then money wasn't going to be an issue for a long while.

But hey.. Who the heck am I kidding? The cat was already out of the bag as soon as I brought up the past..

We all know what's going to happen, are we?

I was really going to be sent through a time portal, then Hanasaki would've backstabbed me in order to get my portion of the payment, and after that, begins a new cycle: Yukie would grow up fatherless, and Hanasaki would try to execute his plan once again.

In order to prevent the other one of her father, then a high school student, from ever meeting Hanasaki Kazunari, she applied for the job.

The vicious cycles would go on endlessly – I knew that fact from none other than Yukie..

The other Hikigaya Hachiman would have to go through the same ordeals I've been through, Yukie told me that too.

I knew I would end up with one of them sooner or later, a decision that would leave the other scarred, but otherwise unprovoked – once again, I knew it from Yukie.

And yes, I was aware about the details of the job then. In fact, I was made aware well before that – about ten years prior, to be precise – by, you guessed it,

Yukie

* * *

"Did- did you just say 'Hikigaya'?" I asked the lady, still doubting the credibility of her statement, "Are you sure you're not mistaken?!"

"It's up to you whether or not you want to believe me, but that doesn't change who I am", she said, changing back to her usual ladylike demeanor.

"No, that's not the problem.." I said, "it's just that you are.."

"I know the circumstances around how I came to be doesn't stand well with your resolve, Hikigaya-kun" the lady, slowly made her way behind me, explained, "but do realize that I'm not even from here, and on top of that, no one has the right to force you to choose"

"But.."

"I've seen your proposal many times, Hikigaya-kun" she said, "no matter who was chosen, the other one would not hold a grudge against them"

 _But that's inconceivable_ , I thought.

"Oh.. and if two wasn't enough choices for you" she said, "It's not difficult for the young Hiratsuka to go back with you to where you came from".

"Like I said, that isn't the problem, lady" I said.

"Even after knowing who I really am, you're still calling me that?" she said.

 _That, coming from a woman who addresses her own father by his last name.._

"Heh, no matter. And I do know what them problem is: it's that you couldn't believe the other ones of you could've done something that conflicted with their beliefs, am I correct?"

I could've done nothing but simply looked down to the ground, and grunted at how spotted on she was.

"I'll take silence as a 'yes', then" she said.

Relationships in general are superficial, and there was never any meaning in any of them. Through all the years I spent at university, I've seen all the purposes that are inherent to a partner: to be used in order to gain bragging rights, to be used as a sandbag in stressful times, and to be used.. for all sorts of other things.

Not a very romantic reality, but that in itself is a contraction: romance relies on the concept of mutual love, which is idealistic at best. Ergo, it cannot coexist with whatever the reality really presented to us.

My beliefs weren't going to be changed then, especially not by someone claiming to be related to me in such a bizarre way.

"Here's an advice for you, Hikigaya-kun" she said, "try not to get marriage and teenage relationship mixed up; the former has more to it than you ever gave credit for"

"There's no difference between the two. the words used are different, but the idea behind them is the same: it's just conveniency to both parties evolved" I said, "I can't believe the other one of me didn't teach you any of this.. "

"..and it's hard for me too, to imagine that you'd actually grow up to be a man like him" she said, "he's a lot more receptive than you are, I'd say that much"

"Still.." I said, still short of argument.

"Still, Hikigaya-kun. You'll eventually grow out of your current beliefs, and I'm the living proof of that" she said, "and I hope you realize that you have no right bashing relationships when you're in one yourself"

 _Wow, that really hurt_ , I thought.

"Now that I've revealed who I really am, I take it there's nothing else left to be done" she said,

"Wait.. but what about him!?" I said, pointing at Officer Hanasaki, who awas knocked out by the lady.

"There's really no difference whether or not I dispose of him; if he's come this far, then it'd be impossible for the others to not notice" she said, "the best I could do, is to relocate you and beat up the Officers when they find out where you are"

"What do you mean, 'there's no difference'?" I asked.

"The Officer couldn't have known about the 'time travel' by himself, let alone pull it off" she said, "he has to have an accomplice"

"That couldn't be.." I said in disbelief, _if that's the case, then all of this would be meaningless, wouldn't it?_

Then I felt someone resting their head on my back, and that person was, of course, the lady. She reached out for my hand and held it tightly.

"That's all I am able to do for you. Even if you were to leap once more, the result would still be the same" she said, "It seems like they've caught up with me"

"So, that means we're done for, correct?" I calmly asked her, already knowing what the reply would be.

"I'm sorry, Hikigaya-kun.." she said, her voice trembling, "I'm really sorry.. Hiki.. Otou-san"

"Yu.. kie.."

* * *

It had been ten years since I had that conversation.. ten years.. since I came back home, leaving the young Hiratsuka behind without a word, for better or for the worse.

As you can tell, I've somewhat grown out of the beliefs I had (some of them, at least), and that the chosen one is none other than the Yukinoshita Yukino then, but Hikigaya Yukino now. Of course, the reasoning behind it was as arbitrary as saying 'because of love', and you may already know what it was. Nonetheless, the three of us did not meet up together since.

I still can't tell, to this day, whether or not I regretted the decision, even if I led a somewhat regular lifestyle up until then.

If anything though, I'd say that I had made up my mind.

It was Saturday morning, the day where Officer Hanasaki and I reported ourselves to the local railway office.

Yes, I've decided then: _I'm doing it_.

After all the registration work was all done, the two of us, along with the other eleven who signed up were told to assemble outside in single file. A man in a teal colored uniform then came out and stood in front of us.

"Alright, greetings everybody, and welcome to the Eastern Railway Company" the man said, "My name is Kisaragi Touya, and I'll be your instructor for today"

The man held up a clipboard he had been holding and skimmed through all the documents, giving each page about a second on two.

"Alright, before we start with the briefing, I'd like to confirm with all of you the terms and conditions on today's mission, since I doubt anyone of you read them before signing the contract" he said, to which some of the people in line giggled lightly, "it's nothing unusual, really: it goes along the lines of 'the company takes no responsibility for any unforeseen accident that may occur to the applicant'– anyone have any objections?"

Most of the people shook their heads, while the others, including me, stayed still.

"Alright, then I won't delay this any further" he said, "let's begin with the briefing"

It took him about half an hour to make all the explanations regarding the job. To summarize, he told us that we were going to be testing a new VR system that the railway company developed to simulate train accidents, and its purpose was to give engineers the better basis for improving their trains' emergency system. He said something about safety precautions too, but that was all I remembered. Of course, all of it was a lie, and the instructor probably didn't even know that they were.

"There are four available VR sim stations here in Chiba, and you will be assigned in groups of three to each of the station" he said, "Hikigaya-san, Officer Hanasaki, you two will be going with me since your group is lacking one person"

We took the train down the station at the border between Tokyo and Chiba where we were told the security weren't as tight as the other stations. This makes the atmosphere around us not as tense as I thought it would be. But as we were about to board the station, the instructor stopped us in front of the entrance.

"Uhh.. Officer Hanasaki.." the instructor said, pointing at something Hanasaki hanged over his left shoulder, something I thought, too, should not have been there, "Why do you have a gun with you?"

"Oh, you don't have to worry about it!" Hanasaki said, "I already have all the standard issued .38 rounds replace with the anti-riot rubber rounds"

"Well, if you say so, then I guess there's no problem" the instructor said, "although, I doubt you'll ever get the chance to use it"

"We can never really be sure, can't we?" Hanasaki said, " like they say 'better be safe than sorry'"

Of course, I already had an idea on what he'll be using the gun for, and it containing live bullet or not doesn't really matter, because the fact remains, the most likely candidate to be the victim of it..

Was none other than me…


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15** : Slowly, but surely, Hiratsuka Shizuka makes a decision..

It was perhaps a week after that I began worrying, and then another that the feeling of uneasiness began to build up. To be honest, though, I probably felt more than one emotion, but the main ones that kept coming up are were loneliness and betrayal.

School felt empty and meaningless, and Service Club itself seemed to have suffered the same fate – there had been an increase in people cancelling their requests, and people who were regulars just stopped showing up. It took a load off my shoulder, but again, it was meaningless.

Despite being cynical most of the time, a lot people came in asking him for advice. To tell you the truth, I didn't care that the regulars didn't show up anymore. Even when Hanasaki, the one responsible for making him more sociable, stopped coming, I still didn't care. But without him around however, I was totally by myself. At times, I would pour an extra cup of tea just to fool myself into thinking that the reality is otherwise, and it worked sometimes.

When it didn't work, I tried to think about all the good memories I'd built throughout my life up until that point. I thought about various things: like that time when I went to an amusement park with my family when I was younger, or that time when I found out I passed Sobu High entrance exam. It was all well and dandy until my thoughts just circle back to those memories with him, that would be when the feeling of betrayal comes in.

After you accept someone, you shouldn't even ask whether or not to stay by their side, comforting them when they need you to – it's a promise by that point. Not only that he broke that promise in particular, he also broke another promise: the one he made that time on our train home, that he'll come back and explain everything to me.

* * *

I did as he asked me to: chasing that girl all the way to the last carriage, trying to calm her down. I knew it wasn't worth the hassle, but I had to do it, if it meant I could finally get an explanation.

"Yui-chan, calm down.. there's no reason to run.." I said, panting in between the words.

She didn't respond, as if her consciousness didn't even register the fact that I was talking to her.

"Yui.. chan?"

"Who.."

"Huh?"

"Who...?" she said once more.

 _Ah right_ , _if she is really Yui-chan she probably doesn't recognize me after all these years_ , I thought.

"Yui-chan, don't you remember me? Hiratsuka Shizuka. I used to be your tutor, remember?" I said.

"Who do you think you are.. to do something like that to Hikki?!' she said.

"What are you talking about, Yui-chan?" I said, and put my arm around her shoulder, trying to comfort her.

She shooked my arms off, and dashed forward.

"Don't touch me!" she said as she just stood there, and stared straight into my soul.

"I.. I haven't done a thing" I said.

"Liar" she said, "You have no idea how many times I tried, only to have him avoid me in some way.."

Despite her being vague about it, I knew exactly what she was trying to imply – not that it would change a thing, though. The girl suddenly grabbed my brazers, and pulled me back and forth frantically.

"So, tell me! What did you do to him?!" she accused me once again.

"Just.. let go of me.. Ugh!" I grunted, escaping her grip, "I said I didn't do anything..I guess It was just.. the right place and time that changed his mind.."

"I can't believe it.. I really can't" she said.

"It's not my fault that I don't know.." I said, "He never said much about himself, let alone about people he knew"

"If that's the case, then you don't deserve it.." she said, "You don't deserve what you have.. and on top of that, you're becoming a teacher – and not just anyone's teacher – his teacher! Don't you think that's just inappropriate?!"

That was when the girl was starting to get on my nerves. I never once forced Hikigaya-kun to have a change of heart, it was a conscious decision made by he himself. Yet there I was, accused of being manipulative, and supposedly "not worthy".

"Yui-chan, look here, I won't argue that you're someone important to him, but you suck at being one.." I said.

The girl gasped as the statement took her by surprise.

"Just because you'll eventually become a teacher, doesn't mean you have the right to say that!" she threw the argument at me.

I wasn't going to back down, though – I was determined to shed some light into her, to hit her with the hard truth.

"I don't care! I stand by my opinion that you suck" I said, "and I have a reason why"

At at moment, all she did was gritting her teeth, but I knew I was going to be slapped in the face sooner or later, so I had to make use of any remaining time. I took a quick breath, making myself ready to say all of it in one go.

As I was about to open my mouth, I felt a little pinch from behind; it felt like I was bitten by an ant. Suddenly, both of my legs became almost weightless, and I lost control over them. I was swaying from left to right until I had to rely on the walls to support myself. My vision began to grow hazy, and my eyelids began gaining incredible weight.

"Hiratsuka-san, I'm sorry things have to turn out like this" said someone from behind.

With very little strength that I had left, I turned around and saw the lady.

"I can't leave him here anymore" she said, "Everyone else is waiting for him back home"

After that statement, my eyes were completely shut, and I was left unconcious.

* * *

It was about three weeks then, and everyday was the exact same: go to school, pass by the clubroom, go home. That day was going to be like any other day. As I got home, the first thing I aimed for was the stairs.

"Shizuka" my mother called me from the kitchen, "I made your favorite today, don't forget to eat."

"Yeah. Got it" I said. I wanted to go up to my room and rest, because I just wanted to be left alone. Had my mother seen my face, she would've asked about the tear stains on my face. Naturally, I got them while I was walking home, but it was just too bothersome for me to tell her the details. _She wouldn't understand it anyway_ , I thought.

I went straight and lie down on my bed after I entered my bedroom. I wanted to just lie down, and forget everything that happened. I figured sleeping would help a bit, but as I was about to close my eyes, a tape on the corner of my bed caught my attention. I reached for it and read the label, _October's Top Singles,_ it said.

"I guess some music won't hurt" I whispered to myself.

I took a pen from my bag, poked it into one of the holes and rewinded the tape.

After I was done with the rewind, I put the tape aside and reached for my bag once more. I searched for a moment and found what I wanted, the player. It wasn't anything special, just a cheap portable cassette player from an unknown brand, but it worked. I put the tape in the player and played the music.

As the nobs inside the player started spinning, I leaned against the wall, hugging a pillow while waiting for the song to come up.

When the soft piano beginning came up, it calmed me down a bit. I had listened to it once before, and since it was the first song on the track, I remembered it better than other ones on the tape. The lyrics was nice too – the singer walks through a winter night, holding hands with their lover, hoping that the moment would last forever.

Of course, I knew the reality of it. _The guy'll probably run away first_ , I thought. It wasn't a bad song at all, but the overly optimistic lyrics was just too painful to listen to.

After the song faded, I expected the next song to come up with equally painful lyrics, but all that did was static.

"Oh, come on.. I spent a whole week worth of allowance on this.." I said, staring at the tape through the transparent lid. As I was about to press the forward button, a coughing sound came out from the player, followed by some kind of message.

"Ahem.. test.." said someone in the recording – it was a sound of a women.

"If this works, then this message is for Hiratsuka Shizuka-san:" she said.

I was a initially creeped out to think someone secretly edited the content of the tape and put it back in my bag, as God knows how many properties of mine have the person seen. However, as I listened to the recording, I began to realize something..

" _Hello, Hiratsuka-san, you may not recognize my voice, but I can assure you that we have met before_. _I was the one who appeared before you and Hikigaya Hachiman on the train_ "

By that point, I knew who she was – she was the same women who knocked me out.

"What does she want from me?" I asked myself.

" _Although it may be inappropriate, I would like to properly introduce myself: My name is Hikigaya Yukie, a relative of Hikigaya-kun. You may find it strange that I address him as such, but I have my reasons for doing so._

 _Now, as for the message itself, I want to start off by apologizing about what I did to you on the train. I did so out of fear that you wouldn't be able to remain calm about Hikigaya-kun leaving, which is the reason for me to make this recording._

 _As much as it may seem unfathomable to you, Hikigaya-kun does not come from the same place that you do, so returning him to where he belongs is only natural._

 _You may think the purpose of this recording is to inform you that you'll never be able to see him ever again, but in fact, it is the opposite._

 _Leading you to where he is will be a simple task – the problem lies within you. You have to ask yourself: 'Am I ready to leave everything behind?'_

 _If you answer is 'Yes', then I'll be waiting at Sobu High, and you can meet me after school at the incinerator. If that is truly your calling, then don't worry about your sudden disappearance, as I've already found your replacement just in case._

 _However, if you want to deny this proposal, all you have to do is ignore this message, and no one that is associated with me, including Hikigaya-kun, will ever bother you again._

 _If you ever want your memories of him erased afterwards, mail this tape to the address on the label behind it – I will send you back the original copy of this tape with all the songs untouched, and I'll make sure you and everybody else forget about him._

 _I am in no position to give any opinion, but at least let me remind you to think about this carefully, Hiratsuka-san._ "

The message stopped at that point, and a song faded in slowly.

I stared at the cassette player, thinking about the result that will come to be if I chose either one.

I was in dilemma.

Yes, I truly wanted to meet him, but then I had to ask myself: was I ready to leave everything behind? If that mean permanently leaving this place, then what will be waiting for me on the other end?

 _All the things I have had to go through during the last couple of months.. It all led to this.. why?_ , I thought.

Finally, I was overwhelmed, and tears just started streaming down my cheeks intensely.

"I've had enough.."


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16: The Determined Descendant Who Leapt Through Time**

"Hey! I already told you that the door closes by itself!" a certain cab driver said.

It was one of the first ordeals I had to go through that day, being in a place that I grew up in, yet I somehow knew next to nothing about. But that was to be expected – it was a decision I made, therefore it was my own responsibility, one that I have to bear with until the very end.

"Oh.. umm – I'm sorry" I apologized, having slammed the taxi's automatic door shut with all her might.

"What in the world.. first those foreigners, and now you! Before I know it, I'll need to have them replaced – dangit" the driver said, pulled up the side window, and drove away.

As I looked away from the cab, a thing I had been finding the whole time was clearly visible within sight, Tokyo Tower. From where I stopped the cab, it was probably less than a kilometer away. To me, such a distance wasn't for far. The distance between school and my house is farer after all, so I was pretty much used to it.

'It won't take long' I thought, as I took my first step with optimism.

..It was the only step I took before I started feeling hopeless immediately.

Tall buildings, skyscrapers, as well as the Tokyo Tower itself suddenly disappeared out of view. Looking down at what was in front of me, I thought I was in a totally different world from before I took that step.

The sight I have in front of me simply popped into view without any sorts of transition. If I were to describe it now, I would say that it felt as if you were watching a badly edited video through a VR headset.

All the tall structures I saw earlier were now small wooden houses with two floors at max – the better looking ones had tiled roofs, while the the cheaper looking ones had thatched roofs. Digital advertising screens and the pavement that they were on weren't there either, instead, there were banners in front of stores, advertising whatever it was that they were selling.

The sound of modern machinery like car horns and the sliding open of automatic doors were nowhere to be heard. The only things I heard were the occasional sound of wooden wheels of carriages rolling against the floor as they passed by.

What caught my eye the most, though, were those who were around me. A moment before, I was looking at men in suits, and women wearing the latest fashion. But then suddenly, I was looking at people of both genders walking around in robes of different colors and patterns – some of them were wearing straw woven sandals, while others took their steps on the dusty ground with their bare feet.

Being a young woman myself, I couldn't help but notice the other girls who looked my age. There wasn't a single hint of dye on their hair, and most of theirs seemed to be styled in the same way: by having them knotted up with a hair pin being poke through.

Other than the differences, life seems to be continuing for them as usual. Although, to my dismay, the conversations that happened around me were all related to nationalism in a way.

"It was Russia that started this whole thing!" a guy in a full Gakuren outfit said.

"Yeah, I will definitely join up and rid our Manchuria of any of them that's left!" the other guy in a similar outfit said.

There was no doubt about it, and their inflections confirmed this: I was in Meiji era.

To be taken somewhere so far from your objective, It was hopeless, to say the least. But, to be fair, I knew that this sort of thing would've happened sooner or later – Yukie-san did warn me about it, I was just being neglectful and overly optimistic.

But then I remembered: she gave me some something to deal with this sort of situation, and it was in my blazer's pocket the whole time. It was a device no bigger than a virtual pet would be, but instead of a pet, there was a spinning arrow on the screen. She told me to go in the direction that the arrow was pointing at, and I'll be back in the present eventually.

Holding the device in my hand, I took a deep breath, building up the wall that will prevent me from giving in to the despair. With the same determination as earlier, I took my steps slowly, holding on to the confidence I built up the same way did with the device. I was ready to take on whatever the era was throwing my way..

Though, I don't think the same could be said about the locals when it comes to receiving me..

"Look at that women" somebody said, referring to me, "doesn't she look out of place?"

"Yeah – why is she dressed up like one of those western academic? She's so pretentious" somebody else said.

Those words were as sharp any knife I have held at home, and some that I heard a bit later on were actually sharper, yet they did not bother me in the slightest. I anticipated this sort of reception. It was the Meiji era, where women rights wasn't the biggest of concern, so walking around in a western-looking uniform as a women in this time period probably isn't a great idea.

To be completely honest, I was born ten years earlier than _him,_ so I probably didn't have any right to complain anyway.

I had all the eyes of the local on me all the way through a district. It wasn't the sort of eyes a white man would get if he visits Japan in the present – all I felt coming towards me was contempt. But again, I was able to go through an entire road full of offended people without scratch, physically or emotionally.

Eventually I came across a wooden bridge that goes over a canal of some sort. It was wide enough for an average sized vehicle to go over. I knew that I had to go over – that fact made irrefutable when the device aligned the tip of its arrow exactly at the middle of the bridge.

When I placed my feet on one of the connected wooden parts, I could've sworn that I heard a squeak coming from below. By then, I was already too apprehensive to give this bridge another step forward, but I did so anyway. The canal seemed to be to wide for me to swim across, and I wouldn't want to get my clothes wet anyhow – it was the only way for me to get across.

I took another step, and the squeaking seemed to have become louder, but I kept going reluctantly.

After many steps in, I started to disregard the noise all together, because, after all, 'nothing seems to be falling apart'

That was when I was completely wrong.

As I got to the apex, the wooden piece I stood on suddenly broke in half. With both of my arms, I was able to grab onto the side frames that were still intact, though my feet were already in the water.

Then it happened again. I heard loud snaps coming from both sides of the frame – this time, I thought I was going to have a heart attack. Both of frames that I held on to broke off, and my whole body fell into the water.

Whenever there was swimming during PE, I have always found an excuse to just sit beside to pool and watch. Never would I have thought the laziness of mine could come back to bite me in the butt. I desperately flapped my arms and legs around to try to stay afloat – you do not need to be a professional swimmer figure out that it wouldn't work.

I struggled with the water for a short while, pushing myself upward all the while sinking with small waves hitting my face every second. When I eventually ran out of strength, I knew it was going to be the end as I was slowly being submerged, my face being further and further from the surface.

I wasn't a follower of any particular religion, but I started praying in hope that someone, anyone would hear it.

Nothing complicated, It was something along the lines of, "Please, let me go and meet _him_ "

* * *

It had been a while since I was able to sit alone, and eat at my new favorite spot, the rooftop. Since I was no longer around her, there was no one to interrupt my moment of peace. I wasn't thinking of anything in particular, I swear (at least I tried not to) – all I wanted to do then, was munching on a store bought sandwich.

As if deliberately trying to pull my leg, somebody opened the door to the rooftop to which I sat across. What emerged from the stairs was a person that you would always see in lab coat, even though she doesn't even teach science.

She doesn't remind me of anyone, I swear.

"So you're here after all, Hikigaya" she said.

"As always, Hiratsuka-sensei" I replied.

Without saying a word, she came and sat down right beside me as if it was a normal thing to do. That was it for a while – nobody decided to say anything, not even she would say anything. I usually don't try to strike up a conversation, but in a situation like this I would at least want us to acknowledge each other.

"Sensei- "

"Hikigaya" she interrupted.

"Yes?"

"I'm sorry," she said.

Now, that was unexpected, especially for a teacher.. what could she be sorry about, I wondered. Usually, she would be the one lecturing me in a situation like this – she would stop at nothing to bring me to my knees.

"I should've stopped Yukie before all that happened to you" she said as she lit her cigarette she just took out.

"Personally, I don't hold any grudge against her" I said, "After all, she did it to ensure my safety"

Rather than a statement, she replied with a warm smile of reassurance. It was as if she was glad I didn't blame her or the lady for what had happened.

C'mon, being anti-social doesn't mean that you have to be unreasonably insensitive.

With a big sigh, she leaned against the wall, and finally put her lit cigarette to use.

"I still wonder to this day" she said, puffing out a small cloud of smoke, "why didn't I just go after him"

Even if she tried her best to avoid naming someone, I still knew exactly who she was referring to.

"That's not so difficult to answer, it's because you didn't want to give up everything for someone you only knew for three months" I said, "I'm more than certain she thinks so too"

"You don't have to worry, I'm sure she's trying her best to come" she said.

"You're saying it as if I'm worried at all, Sensei. It doesn't matter whether she comes or not"

And it was true – I had been back for almost two weeks, and I was able to go on with my daily life from then on. The only contributions she had made to my well-being weren't at all significant, objectively speaking, that is.

"To her, whether or not you're there makes a whole world of difference" she said.

I could've sworn that I saw her younger self in a flash as she said so, it was as if she was trying to redirect those words to him through me.

It really made me wonder why someone like her wasn't taken already.

"You should trust her more, Hikigaya," she said "We may look the same, but she's a lot smarter than I am"

"To be fair, both of you ended up dating a loner, so I don't think either of you is better than the other in that depart- Ouch!"

Without letting me finish, she punched me in the shoulder.

"Like you're any better!" she said, blushing like there was no tomorrow, "Last I checked, you didn't even breakup with her before coming back!"

Somehow, I find her flushed face to be extremely.. adorable.. not as much as Totsuka's, though.

But my rudeness did manage to lighten up the mood a bit – I realized so when she started laughing at the silliness of the whole thing. I couldn't help but smile as well.

"Hikigaya," she said, putting out her cigarette.

"Yes?"

Without warning, (or waiting for my approval), she rested her head on my shoulder.

Naturally, I started freaking out.

"Sensei?!"

"I know it's not the time that I can do this anymore," she said, her voice filled with regret, "but please, Hikigaya, let me at least pretend that I still can"

Oh, RomCom god, why do you do this?

"Go ahead" I said.

Not that there was anything I could've done to stop her.

"Can you call me by my name?" she said, "You know, the same way you called her"

Now, that may have been a bit too much, but it's not like I didn't know where she was coming from. I am by no means a grown up, but there are times where I want to be younger too – It's one of those way you can use to escape the cruelty of the reality we live in. So, reluctantly, I took a deep breath and built up the courage.

"Shizuka" – I finally said it.

"Thank you, Hikigaya-kun"

For a short moment, I felt like I was really sitting with a seventeen year old Hiratsuka Shizuka, an innocent young women who had not yet gave in to nicotine. It seemed like she was enjoying every single second of it, despite the lack of any meaningful conversation. I allowed her to savor the moment for as long as she wanted – it was needless for me to say it at this point, but she really took her time.

* * *

When I opened my eyes, all I see was a wooden ceiling that seemed to get deeper the more to the center it was. Looking left and right, there were traditional sliding doors with white translucent papers on them. Through the slid open door in the right, I saw an open corridor with a garden of some kind being a bit further.

Based on what I felt lying down, the floor was without a doubt, woven rice straws.

But how?, I thought. A moment ago I remembered being in the canal, drowning. Now, I was lying at somebody's house.

I stood up, wanting to explore the premise in which I rested. As I stood up, I quickly realized that I was not wearing my uniform (which by then should still be wet), but a traditional robe.

"It suits you better than the clothes you wore before the accident" said someone. I turned around, and there was woman who looked my age, sliding the door as she came in. I didn't even notice her – probably too mesmerised by the fact that I was still alive then.

She was different from the girls I saw before.. Well, it was mainly due to her hairstyle. Rather than that of a Geisha, she had her hair loose. Overall, seemed like a pretty laid back person.

"Pardon my intrusion" I said, bowing down.

"Please make yourself at home" she said, "I take it that you probably have a lot to inquire?"

"Yes" I said.

"Then, would you like some tea?"

The girl went out of the room for a short while and came back holding a wooden tray with a tea set on top. She placed the tray down in front of me and sat down.

"Here" she said, handing me a cup.

"Thank you" I said, receiving it with both of my hands.

"To be honest I am not sure of what happened myself" she said, "but as far as I know, it was an acquaintance of mine who saved you"

"An acquaintance?"

"Yes, he brought you here at noon and asked me to take care of you" she said, "Do not worry, I was the one who changed your clothes – they should still be drying outside at the moment"

"I see" I said, taking a sip of the tea.

"Also, this is just my opinion, but you bear a resemblance to him.. to my acquaintance, I mean" she said.

"How exactly?" I replied.

"When I look into your eyes, a similar emotion is evoked to when I look into his" she said, "He is always willing to support a comrade in distress, but would not reach out to anyone when he needs help – I think that description suits you too"

There was certainly a degree of truth in what she said. Sometimes, I really do think my problems aren't really worth anyone's time, but if someone were to come and ask for help, I wouldn't hesitate to.

"Are you at all familiar with the name Hiratsuka Hiroto?" she said, "That is his name"

The last name really caught me off guard – after all, that's also my last name. Initially, though, I thought I have misheard her.

"Excuse me, but what is his name again?"

"Hiratsuka Hiroto" she said, "He is one of the people who founded Sobu Preparatory School"

Now, things were starting to make sense in a way I have never imagined.

That person she was talking about was, without a doubt, my great grandfather. It was a scenario worthy of being a paradox had things went wrong.

Make no mistake, though, that was the only start to a long line of coincidences I went through later on.

 **A/N** : Hi there people, thanks for sticking around until now! I really hope the story wasn't confusing so far. After so many train wrecks, the last thing I want to do right now is to create anymore of it. So, from here on, I will try my best to minimize the amount of BS and actually work toward an ending. Once again, thanks to those of you who are still sticking by!


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17: Waiting for the Answers as Hiratsuka Shizuka starts a New Life**

"I hope you have all your belongs with you" the girl said, looking at me with hopefulness in her eyes, as if knowing that I was about to embark on an adventure.

"Yes" I replied, "Thank you for letting me stay"

"Oh please, do not mention it" she said, "Do take care on your journey"

"I'll be going now" I said, turning my back taking off. The girl let me stayed at the house to recover my stamina – although she wanted me to stay longer, I decided I wasn't worth the trouble.

Don't get me wrong, I really appreciated her hospitality, even though she only it did because she happened to be acquainted with the one who saved me. And by pure luck, that person happened to be my ancestor. Unfortunately though, when I finally got back to the present, those people wouldn't be around anymore.

But now isn't the time to be pondering about the nature of life, as I continued on with my feet towards the direction the device was leading me. Eventually, I was met with the same transition I did when spacetime brought me here. In other words, there was no transition at all.

Houses with thatched roof and people in traditional robes were gone, all replaced with people in latest fashion and skyscrapers. Yes, I was finally back to the present.

Not my present, though, that would be ten years in the past.

My first instinct was to kneel down on the pavement and reassuringly sigh. Those who were walking all around me would look at me funny, but I did not care; I am finally at the place and time I wanted to be. The device I used all the way was broken. According to Yukie-san, when that happens, there would be no more time slips, which means that I'm here for good.

After I finally got a hold of myself, I stood up and press forward. I wasted no time, immediately making my way to the subway and took the train to my final destination, Chiba.

It was no different than it does ten years in the past, although there were new shops and buildings here and there. While I did have the sense of urgency, I couldn't help but be interested at all the new places that didn't exists back where I came. My curiosity got the best of me, and I decided it wouldn't hurt to stroll a little bit around the district I knew.

The place where the old dango store used to be is now a fashion shop of a brand I have not heard of before. Looking through the window from the outside, all I could see were clothes for women in their teens and early twenties. It shouldn't be a surprise to know that I entered the shop without a second thought – I am a teenage girl after all, and besides, I want to finally get this worn off uniform off me.

There were many different varieties of clothing that I hadn't seen before – it made me wonder how much I have missed. But I guess that is to be expected, since I spent most of my free time by myself, either at home or at the club.

My sight was glued to all the beautiful clothes hung in a single file on a rack. I don't know what sort of childish spirit got into me, but I decided to reach out my arm through the rack and walk down the aisle just to see all the shirts flap. The experience was oddly satisfying..

All was fine, until.. BAM!, I ran into another person who was just minding their own business. Both of us fell on to the ground bottom first. I couldn't help but cringe each time I heard a thud as each of the stuff the other person was holding fell to the ground.

"Hey, watch where you're going!"

"I am really sorry!" I said.

The person was a woman that looked like she was in her late twenties. Just looking at her face made me realize this person may have been a short tempered person.

One of her stuff slid toward my direction when it got to the ground, it was a pair of sunglasses. I decided to pick it up.

"Here is your sunglasses," I said, "I am sorry for being careless"

"Mah, whatever, what's done is done I guess" she said, reaching out her arm to get her belonging. But rather than taking it back, she stared at me for a moment.

She gasped and quickly shot herself up and stood there, embarrassed with her face as red as the reddest lipstick.

"This.. this is a secret between us!" the woman said.

I couldn't help but wonder what the heck was going on.

"Um, sorry, but what exactly are we keeping a secret?" I said.

"Don't try to act dumb, you know who I am – you're from the school!" she said.

At that moment I knew I was in trouble, judging from how old she looked, she was probably a teacher, or at least a staff at school at this time period. Thing is, though, I had no idea who she was.

"I am sorry, I really have never seen you before" I expressed my genuine ignorance.

"Mou, you insist on acting like that!" she said, grabbing onto my arm, and forced me up, "Come with me!"

"Wait!" I said.

But it was too late as I was dragged (literally) out of the shop and through the shopping district. I could barely keep up with her pace, and no matter how hard I resisted, she wouldn't let go of my hands.

"Where are we going?" I asked.

"Just keep quiet and come along" she said.

With me behind her, she made her way to a certain Ramen shop that, once again, did not exist ten years earlier. Even inside of the shop, she dragged me all the way to the table, only letting go before immediately gesturing with her fingers for me to sit down. I was too exhausted from keeping up at that point, that I decided to just comply with whatever she said.

"Order what you like," she said, sitting down across me, "I'll take care of the bills, if that'll make you keep this a secret"

She must really not want her students to find out, I thought.

I tried my best at choosing the cheapest menu possible while so as to not hurt her wallet. School staffs aren't paid well, so I heard. On top of that, Yukie-san provided me with more enough money to start a new life, so it's not like I was in pinch or anything.

It did take me a while to convince her that I wasn't trying to do anything funny with the amount I ordered, that I was really not that hungry.

"So, why are you wearing your uniform on Saturday?" she said, taking a sip off her bowl.

Her question caught me off guard, but I tried my best at making up a believable excuse. I think I said something along the lines of, "I thought today is Friday, but when I went to school, there was nobody there"

"Huh, I thought you would've already talked to your friends about what you'd be doing during the weekend" she said.

"Well, I just transferred here, so I don't really have any friends yet" I said. Couldn't tell her I was from the past, or she'd think I'm crazy, wouldn't she?

Luckily though, she believed it, even though my uniform would've looked a bit worn off then.

"That make sense – come to think of it, I don't think I remember seeing you in class either," she said, "Would you tell your name? I may have forgotten about you."

"My name is Hiratsuka Shizuka" I said.

I expected her to tell me that the name does not ring a bell when I told her, but it seemed like she was taken aback by it instead. Her eyes grew wide as she stared at me, it was as if she was seeing a ghost or something. It was starting to feel awkward for me as she kept staring, and I tried to think of what I should say to break this atmosphere, but nothing came to mind.

Eventually though, she looked away to the side and rested her chin on her hand. While the silence really didn't help with the mood, it did allow me to inspect her properly.

Looking at her, there are certain characteristics of her that remind me of myself. Take her light gray eyes as an example – when I was being stared a moment ago, it felt a bit like looking into the mirror. I just noticed it then, but her other facial features also gave me the same vibe.

"That name.. " she said, finally breaking the silence, "it doesn't ring a bell at all"

Fair enough, I thought, but was any of that worth making the mood all awkward, though?

"Here" she said as she stood up, placing the money on the table, it was more than what my portion actually costed, "I have an appointment, so I have to get going now"

"Wait, Sensei.. I think the money"

She halted as she was about to walk off, and turned back to me.

"Keep the change, I'm sure you need it more than I do" she said.

"But.."

"Don't worry about it so much, this is the least I could do for you."

"..."

"Oh, and I think you have someone you should be seeing too, so hurry up and finish your food" she said, finally taking off and quickly became out of sight as she left the store.

It came to me as I was finishing my food, but I may have had the idea who she was. It was just a hunch, though, so I quickly dismissed the thought and slurped up the last strands of noodle.

After taking care of the bills, I immediately continued on my path. Yukie-san rented a place for me near this district, that's where I was heading. I had to change the line from the one I took from Tokyo, though, and I had to pass through the district to get to the appropriate station. It was a bit inconvenient, but on the bright side, it allowed me to have free lunch.

Getting there would've taken only a bit, and after that I can then focus on finding the appropriate time and place to meet him.

It was a bit crowded on the train, but I decided to endure it as it would've taken only two stations to get to my place. Being beside the window, I was able to see the landscape moving past me at high speed – anything that was about to leave my sight would stretch out and disappear into the edge of the window.

Another train joined in as it moved along on its track beside mine. I initially thought of cussing at the other train for blocking the view, but I quickly realized that it didn't matter. It was something about the carriage running parallel to mine – something stood out like a sore thumb. It was a figure too important to not recognize: those short black hair, and those pair of dead-fish eyes.

When the person finally looked up, he seemed to be equally shocked.

"Hikigaya-kun.." I murmured as I tried reaching my hand out, only to be obstructed by the window.

Our eyes seemed to be glued to one another on the opposite train, but only before his stopped a station early than mine. The goal was so near, yet so far.

 _Gah, why do I have to be on a rapid train right now_?, I thought, gritting my teeth.

"Next station, Funabashi. The doors on the right side will open – please mind the gap between the train and the platform", said the announcer, but with adrenaline rush I was experiencing it may as well have said, "On your marks, ready, set.."

"Fubanashi.. Fubanashi" the announcer said as the doors on the right side slid open.

"Excuse me!" I kept saying as I push myself through the crowd of people on the train, until I get doors and hopped over to the platform.

With only one goal in my, I took off.

* * *

When I saw that girl, I thought I should be staring at her in awe. I thought, I should've exchanged to the line beside me. However, a part of me kept telling me that it wasn't the same person, and that I shouldn't bother.

"Tsudanuma.. Tsudanuma," the announcement said as the doors on the left side open. People left and right started pouring out, but I wasn't in much of a hurry as everybody else, only leaving the train when traffic between the train and the platform lightened up. I did want to see for myself whether or not it was the same person, but that part of me kept telling me it would've been as waste of time. I thought it would've made me leave and just go home, too.

But for whatever reason, I couldn't get myself to step out of the station, even though it would've only taken a few steps in both direction. I stood there, in front of the ticket barrier, as if I was waiting for something to happen. What was I waiting for?, I wondered, I wasn't as if I made an appointment with someone. I have had unrealistic expectations ever since I was in middle school – as evident by that particular case that I involved Orimoto Kaori and myself – but I thought I was doing then was beyond unacceptable. Not only was I expecting something that wasn't there, but I did it with a person that couldn't have been in the same time period as myself.

I thought it was miserable of me, but I kept standing there, and looking at my phone to pass the time, not even know what I was waiting for.

Inevitably, I decided to give up. I put my phone back into my pocket, and looked around once more to see if somebody was there. But in the end, nobody came.

I thought I was better than everyone else, but in the end, I still do the same things they do. It had to stop, I thought. I accepted the fact that nothing would've happened, and I that I wouldn't be getting more important things done had I stood there. I turned towards the gate that was on the direction of my house and walked off.

"Hikigaya-kun!"

The voice came and echoed all around me. I knew it was highly improbable, and that made me not wanting to turn myself towards the other direction.

"Hiki.. gaya.. Kun.. wait..," the voice came again, only this time mixed with abrupt pauses and panting.

Finally, I gave up with myself and turned back towards the ticket barrier. there she was, on the other side, desperately trying to catch her breath. I thought my eyes were fooling me, but after rubbing both my eyes, I was sure she was really there. The girl inserted the ticket into the gate, and walked off toward me.

"Shizuka.."

As if instinctively, she rested her forehead on my chest when she was right in front of me.

"Finally found you, Hikigaya-kun" she said.

"But.. you.. How?"

"Just.. be quiet and embrace somebody you haven't seen in a long time like any normal person would.. Please.. I'll explain everything later, I promise"

I did just that, albeit reluctantly. I could tell she was exhausted, but doing something like that in front of many people was still embarrassing beyond belief. Well, I did try my best to suck it up and let her be. That was the best I could've done for her, for someone who risked herself just to come and see someone like me, a person who society wouldn't consider any different from trash.

As I held her, I heard faint sobbing from below my chin. It didn't feel like the feeling between two friends who haven't met each other for long. To me, it seemed like she was longing for the warmth so desperately, she decided to give up everything she knew and love, and that's because it was exactly what she did. Needless to say, I wholeheartedly felt responsible for such rashness, but what's done is done, and the best course of action is to look into what would be the best for the future.

"Hikigaya-kun, would you mind taking me home?" she said.

"No" I said, "Of course not"

It would be a lie to say that I wasn't interested in what she had gone through. As per the girl's request, I had her piggy back ride on me as she guided me to her place. One thing I realized while going through this was the that there's nothing more embarrassing than having someone, especially a girl, on your back in public.

"I see, so this is the place Yukie-san bought you" I said.

"Apparently.. " she said.

"I'll put you down on the sofa, then"

"Alright"

The place was really spacious, it was as big as the room Yukie-san got me when I was in the past – In fact, I realized later on that it was the same place, no wonder why the location was so familiar.

Having Shizuka behind me all the way from station drained most of the energy I had, so I sat on the other side of the sofa to catch my breathe and stayed put for a short while. That is, until she spoke up.

"H.. hey, Hikigaya-kun" she said. "I'm still not really used to the place, so would you mind staying the night"

"Alright" I said. I know how she felt – yes, my first night in the past was outdoors in the snow, but had Yukie-san got me a place, I wouldn't be able to sleep regardless. I can say this confidence that it's the same for everyone.

"Let me at least call my famil- woah..!"

Before I could've taken out my phone, Shizuka pushed me down onto the sofa with all her might. Being on top of me, she stared into both of my eyes as her face inches closer.

"Mind if you do that later?" she said, placing one of her hands on my chin.

I knew I should've been a bigger man and not accept an on-the-whim invitation, but I had already decided I was going to go along with it until the end. It was the best I could've done to help her with all the stress she had pent up all along.

"I guess I'll take you up on the offer" I said.

To be honest, it's not like I wasn't interested myself, being a teenage boy and all.

All that aside, it had been a week, and I had not slept over at her place since (although that is subjected to change).

Shizuka seemed to have integrated into the school nicely. Her older counterpart, Hiratsuka-sensei, took the time and patience to get her admission to go through, even if it was near the end of the school year by then. That was about all there was to their personal interaction. As for the legalities, it seems Yukie-san had taken care of all the paperwork before Shizuka came over, so that's all done and good too.

It wasn't all smooth though – sometimes people would ask her whether or not she was somehow related to her older self, to which she would always feign ignorance. Some other times, she would get into fights with Yuigahama for some petty reasons, just like now...

"Nope! Listen to me, Yuigahama-san, If we follow through with your plan, then this whole thing would definitely flop!" Shizuka said.

"Then what do you suggest we do? It's not like your idea's any better, Shizu-chan!" Yuigahama-said.

"Yuigahama-san, Hiratsuka-san, I think we should discuss this matter in a more civilized manner," said Yukinoshita, who was sitting on the opposite end of the table.

"Yukinoshita-san, this is between us two!" Shizuka said.

"I.. apologize.. Please carry on," Yukinoshita said, completely giving up on mediating.

"Hikki!"

"Hikigaya-kun!"

No, please don't do this.., I thought.

"Whose idea is better?" they said in unison.

It had become a norm for such unfortunate event to happen in the clubroom. At this point, I would say that everything had come back to being normal – nobody disappeared anymore, but nobody just suddenly showed up either, save for Shizuka herself. I still have a lot of questions myself, one of it is why would Shizuka deliberately leave her old life to start anew.

"I.. don't know," I said, "both of your ideas are doable to a degree"

"Mou, Hikki, you always say that!"

"Yeah, I agree with her on this.. You just couldn't get yourself to say that my idea's better couldn't you?"

"Hey, what did you just say?!"

Well, I guess the answers can wait. Right now, I should support Hiratsuka Shizuka in any way I can while she builds everything up to replace what she had left behind. Of course, I wouldn't deliberately leave out the other girls. In fact, I think both of them will play a big role in her new life in the future.

As evident from this whole thing, I won't be able to do it alone.

"Please, give me a break.."

 **A/N: Annddd, it's over! Phew.. it's been a really long ride *wipes sweat*. Anyway, I would like to say thank you to those who stick around until the very end. Even if you skipped some parts or an entire chapter, I am still appreciated that you have taken the time and patience to read through the story. To be completely honest, I didn't have any idea how this story should've turned out ever since the beginning, but I tried my best to come up with new ideas based on people's feedback and my own personal thoughts. I know I have said this before, but I have to apologize for everything wrong with this FanFic: the all-over-the-place plot, the cringy moments, bad grammar, and a lot more; so any negative reviews I have gotten (and will get) are totally deserved. Once again, thank you all who have read the story, no matter how much, and I hope you would give me a chance to take you on a ride once again if I ever write something that interests you. Take care!**


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